• 864,000 tickets sold through public and commercial programmes
• Total ticket sales revenue currently at NZD$166m
• Sales confirm international visitors of at least 85,000 to date
Tournament organisers for Rugby World Cup 2011 today confirmed that key match ticket sales and revenue targets have been achieved for 2010 and that international visitors will number at least 85,000.
In addition the organising body Rugby New Zealand 2011 Ltd (RNZ 2011) and the event owners Rugby World Cup Limited (RWCL) have today both indicated that they are pleased with overall preparations to date as New Zealanders gear up to deliver the largest event ever hosted in the country.
"This is a very good position to be in with 267 days to go until kick-off," said RNZ 2011 CEO Martin Snedden. "We still have a lot left to do, but event preparations, coupled with ticket sales to date and strong international visitorship projections, mean we are getting ourselves in good shape to host the Tournament."
"Since the ticket sales programmes were launched earlier this year a total of 864,000 tickets have now been sold, taking us to just short of two-thirds of our overall target of around 1.45 million sales across the 48 matches."
The total to date includes 662,000 sold through RNZ 2011’s global public ticket phases. Ticket sales revenue across all programmes to date currently totals NZD$166m (excl GST).
"We are on track to achieve the forecast total ticket sales revenue of NZD$268m. We knew this NZD$268m sales target was always going to be a big leap into the unknown given that the biggest grossing event previously in New Zealand’s history was the 2005 Lions tour during which the NZRU grossed NZD$24m from ticket sales."
"We’ve now achieved seven times that figure. In the end, we’ll need to do 11 times that amount to hit budget."
In addition, the Official Travel and Hospitality Programme is tracking strongly, with sales to date exceeding initial forecasts.
Over 40 Official Travel Agents and Sub-Agents are selling packages to Rugby fans around the world and some agents have already sold out of semi-finals and Finals travel packages.
Official Hospitality packages are also proving popular, with New Zealand companies wanting to take advantage of the biggest event ever to be hosted in the country.
RNZ 2011 today also released the key results of a survey of ticket purchasers carried out by independent research company Covec. During November, Covec surveyed all of those who had purchased tickets by the end of October 2010 from RNZ 2011 through its global sales process. The response rate was 30%, providing a strong credible base for analysis.
"The survey results are great news for New Zealand and for our tourism industry. This is reliable evidence that we can expect at least 55,000 international visitors from sales to date in our public ticket programme, in addition to the 30,000 plus visitors who we know will come through packages sold by the Official Travel Agents operating worldwide," added Snedden.
"Attracting visitors is a key part of the benefits of staging a Rugby World Cup. It’s terrific that 44% of these FIT (free and independent travellers) visitors will be coming to New Zealand for the first time. Furthermore, almost half of those surveyed have indicated an intention to arrive before the opening match on September 9 with the average length of FIT stay being 23 days."
"Many intend travelling right around the country. While the bulk of visitors (36,500) expect at some stage to visit Auckland, at least 11,000 say they will also travel down the West Coast of the South Island and 18,000 to Otago and Southland. Regions up and down New Zealand will benefit."
"These survey results also auger well for the REAL New Zealand Festival. All of us involved in supporting the Festival preparations have been encouraging visitors to ‘take the long way round’ the country and to really enjoy the host of uniquely New Zealand events that will be happening right across the country so these numbers underline the great opportunity for our regions to really turn it on for visitors."
Rugby World Cup Limited Managing Director Mike Miller, in New Zealand to check on progress at Stadium Christchurch and the new state-of-the-art Otago Stadium, underscored RWCL’s confidence that overall Tournament preparations are right on track.
"Stadium Christchurch will be an exceptional Rugby World Cup venue and I have no doubt Otago Stadium will not only be ready on time, but will quickly establish itself as one of the finest sporting venues in the world with its innovative design and exceptional spectator experience," said Miller.
"What I am seeing, having made several visits to New Zealand in the past year, is a country that is advanced in its preparations to host a fantastic Rugby World Cup. This Tournament is all about partnership and I am delighted to say that all stakeholders, including the New Zealand Government, are geared towards hosting a Tournament that New Zealanders and the global Rugby family can be proud of."
"We have every confidence that New Zealand will stage a very successful Tournament and one that will provide fans from around the world with a truly memorable experience combining compelling action in great stadia with a wonderful festival of sport and culture as New Zealand becomes a nation of four million hosts."
Ticketing and visitor snapshot
• Ticket sales to date: 864,000
• Ticket revenue to date: NZD$166m
• Expected international visitors from sales to date: 85,000
• Free and independent travellers (FIT): 55,000
• Visitors through the Official Travel Programme: 30,000+
• Almost 50% (FIT) arrive before Opening Match
• Average length of stay: 23 days
• 44% will be visiting New Zealand for the first time
• Top visitor sources: Australia, UK (incl. Ireland), France, South Africa, USA, Canada
• 50% domestic ticket purchasers travel outside home region at least once
• 57% of international purchasers and 45% of domestic purchasers expect to buy more tickets
Official Travel and Hospitality Programme:
Fans wanting to guarantee their place at RWC 2011 can do so through the Official Travel & Hospitality Programme. A range of official RWC 2011 travel packages are available which include travel and accommodation options. Alternatively, companies wanting a complete RWC 2011 experience can choose from a number of exciting ticket-inclusive hospitality packages on offer, including the exclusive Eden Park Pavilion. For more information about the Official Travel & Hospitality Programme, please visit www.rth2011.com.
For more information, please contact: dominic.rumbles@irb.com
As a service to our readers, Around the Rings will provide verbatim texts of selected press releases issued by Olympic-related organizations, federations, businesses and sponsors.
These press releases appear as sent to Around the Rings and are not edited for spelling, grammar or punctuation.
Your complete source of news about the Olympics is www.aroundtherings.com, for subscribers only.
Últimas Noticias
Sinner-Alcaraz, the duel that came to succeed the three phenomenons
Beyond the final result, Roland Garros left the feeling that the Italian and the Spaniard will shape the great duel that came to help us through the duel for the end of the Federer-Nadal-Djokovic era.
Table tennis: Brazil’s Bruna Costa Alexandre will be Olympic and Paralympic in Paris 2024
She is the third in her sport and the seventh athlete to achieve it in the same edition; in Santiago 2023 she was the first athlete with disabilities to compete at the Pan American level and won a medal.
Rugby 7s: the best player of 2023 would only play the medal match in Paris
Argentinian Rodrigo Isgró received a five-game suspension for an indiscipline in the circuit’s decisive clash that would exclude him until the final or the bronze match; the Federation will seek to make the appeal successful.
Rhonex Kipruto, owner of the world record for the 10000 meters on the road, was suspended for six years
The Kenyan received the maximum sanction for irregularities in his biological passport and the Court considered that he was part of a system of “deliberate and sophisticated doping” to improve his performance. He will lose his record and the bronze medal at the Doha World Cup.
Katie Ledecky spoke about doping Chinese swimmers: “It’s difficult to go to Paris knowing that we’re going to compete with some of these athletes”
The American, a seven-time Olympic champion, referred to the case of the 23 positive controls before the Tokyo Games that were announced a few weeks ago and shook the swimming world. “I think our faith in some of the systems is at an all-time low,” he said.
