Coronavirus: Auckland's economy takes $14 million hit from cancelled events

Friday, 8 May 2020

Auckland Mayor Phil Goff announces Auckland Pasifika Festival has been cancelled over Covid-19 fears. (Video first published March 2020)

Auckland's economy has taken a $13.7 million hit from major events cancelled or postponed due to coronavirus.

Five major city-backed events have fallen victim to lockdown, costing the city nearly 46,000 visitor nights, the council's event arm ATEED said.

The hit is more than two-thirds of the GDP expected from major events in Auckland this year and the fate of September's World Rally Championship round may be known by the end of the month.

The agency hoped some events pushed to later in the year will boost business.

* Coronavirus: Auckland Pasifika Festival cancelled over Covid-19 fears

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'ATEED firmly believes that major events will have a strong role to play in helping to underpin our economic recovery, as well as providing a vital lift to the people of Auckland and New Zealand,” Nick Hill, the chief executive, said.

Kiwi Scott McLaughlin celebrating his Race 2 Supercars at Pukekohe in 2019.

The two-day Pasifika Festival was cancelled at the last minute in March as the risks from coronavirus became more apparent.

The Piha Pro surf event was also scrapped and motorsport's Supercars round moved to a still-provisional date later in the year.

Nick Hill, the chief executive of Auckland Council's economic development agency ATEED.

The back-to-back 'Codes of Auckland' rugby and rugby league event at Eden Park was also cancelled, the Writers Festival shifted to a smaller online event and the mid-year Comedy Festival canned.

'ATEED is still planning to deliver the Diwali Festival and Elemental (the winter festival) in the October and November window, pending the alert level at the time,' Hill said.

The still-to-be-announced relaxation of Covid-19 alerts to Level 2, which would allow domestic travel, is hoped to help events pencilled in for later in 2020.

ATEED said postponed events, and those still on the calendar, such as the Auckland Marathon, had an economic potential of $23.3 million and a pre-Covid-19 estimate of 221,000 visitor nights.

“This is an evolving situation which is understandably making planning in the short term increasingly challenging for major event organisers,' Hill said.