SkyCity convention centre fire a big blow for New Zealand tourism

Wednesday, 23 October 2019

Dramatic footage from multiple vantage points of the Auckland fire's unrelenting burn.

The tourism industry is nervously waiting to see how badly it will be hit by further expected delays in opening the fire-damaged SkyCity Convention Centre.

Tourism New Zealand estimates close to 77,000 international visitors come here each year to attend business events and the new Auckland facility was to play a key role in winning more large scale international meetings.

Able to handle events for up to 4000 people, it was a big step up for the conference sector and Auckland Chamber of Commerce chief executive Michael Barnett said any delay would have long term implications for the region's ability to compete, and for tourism in other areas of the country.

'The size of the prize is huge when you look at events like APEC and one or two others, just from bookings SkyCity had just around Apec, you are talking tens of millions of dollars.'

**READ MORE:

Firefighters continue to pour water onto the fire which has badly damaged the NZ International Convention Centre in Auckland. It is not yet clear what the economic fall out will be.

* SkyCity fire burns through the night

* SkyCity fire: 'Environmentally friendly' roof will be fully consumed by blaze, engineer says

International conference-goers attending multi-day events spent $163m in New Zealand last year.

* Auckland SkyCity Convention Centre build: What we know

A fireman takes the fight to the fire at the SkyCity Convention Centre building site after 24 hours of battling the blaze.

* Fire sees hotel guests locked out**

* Fletcher Building says insurance will pay for blaze

Nationally delegates attending multi-day conferences spent $455 million here last year according to the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment

Back in 2017 when the SkyCity Convention Centre confirmed its first bookings, then Minister for Economic Development Simon Bridges said it was projected to inject $90 million dollars into Auckland's economy annually, and it is unclear how much that might change in the wake of the fire.

Two large medical conferences worth $11m were among six scheduled for next year, but construction delays had already seen a number bumped to other Auckland venues such as the Aotea Centre.

Christchurch's new convention centre Te Pae does not have the 'straw' insulation which is burning in the roof of Auckland's SkyCity Convention Centre. Otakaro Ltd is overseeing the Te Pae project and said main contractor CPB had done a fire safety review on Wednesday morning in light of the Auckland blaze.

Last month SkyCity Convention Centre director of sales Prue Daly told the Tourism Ticker website four events had been re-located within Auckland, while two had been lost to China and Singapore.

SkyCity told the NZX on Wednesday morning that it expected there would be a 'further material delay' to the completion dates for the convention centre and adjoining Horizon Hotel, but was unavailable to comment further other than saying keeping staff and customers safe was its priority.

The entire SkyCity precinct including the casino, hotels and restaurants has been evacuated.

Chief executive of Conventions and Incentives NZ (CINZ) Sue Sullivan said $163m of the conference spend came from international delegates who spent on average $2626 per person.

But the true financial impact was much higher because that figure did not include spending by partners accompanying conference-goers.

Overseas delegates stayed 2.5 nights on average outside the region where a conference was held, and add-on events such as field trips also contributed to the overall spend.

'If you have 100 people coming into a region we know they will shop, stay and eat and they will do attractions.'

In an interview published on the SkyCity website, Daly described the lengthy bidding process for international business as like a 'mini Olympic bid' as her team of 12 went up against other global destinations.

Tourism New Zealand has assisted in 63 successful bids for international conferences with an estimated value of $75m to be held throughout the country over the next two years.

Christchurch's new Te Pae convention centre is due to open next October and general manager Ross Steele said it was too early to say whether his venue could take over any events SkyCity's NZ International Convention Centre (NZICC) could not handle as a result of its delayed opening.

'It's really, really important that New Zealand looks to try and retain these international events that it worked very hard to get, and it's an absolute disappointment that NZICC has to go through this.'

The worry for the tourism industry is that New Zealand's image as a conference destination will be damaged by images of the blazing SkyCity building because there is plenty of competition just across the Tasman with revamped convention centres in Sydney and Melbourne.

Sullivan said bids for international conferences was a 'long game' and started years in advance.

'The bidding sometimes starts five years before the conference is won.

'There's a lot of posturing and talking to those who have the ability to vote because there will be a committee that will make the decision, it's not the decision of one person.'

The International Congress and Convention Association publishes a top 20 list of destinations for meetings of international associations.

Last year Australia came in at 13 with 265 meetings, but New Zealand did not make the cut at all.

Singapore, ranked as the top Asia Pacific city for business events, offers sweeteners such as deals on hotel rooms and air tickets for meetings with 700 or more international participants.