Auckland needs more ‘reputational’ events to put it on the map, says industry veteran

Wednesday, 5 February 2025

Auckland needs to build its international profile by showcasing what the region itself has to offer, rather than simply focusing on the odd big sport or concert event it attracts, an events industry veteran says.

The Covid years hit the event industry hard, and the ongoing recession has led to a reduction in funding for events and destination marketing in many parts of New Zealand, including Auckland.

It is accepted that high profile events, such as last year’s Coldplay concerts or the recent Sail GP Auckland, attract visitors to the city and boost economic activity.

Auckland mayor Wayne Brown acknowledges the benefits, and while Auckland council has voted to downsize economic development agency Tātaki Auckland Unlimited (TAU), the COO will retain its events and destination marketing role.

But Lemongrass Productions director Rob Eliott says for Auckland to put itself on the global map as a great destination, it should offer a diverse mix of events, including ones that highlight the tales and products of the region.

Stadium events, such as superstar concerts, and big sporting events, such as the Fifa Women’s World Cup, have a great vibe and attract a lot of attention, he says.

“But other events can better showcase what Auckland has to offer, and its unique attractions, and that is crucial to promote the city to the world as somewhere special to visit. Look at what Melbourne’s food and wine festival has done for that city, for example.”

It was probably easier to build a business case for a sporting event because there was the TV coverage, the statistics from previous events, and it was possible to say “‘we can spend this and get this”, he says.

“With reputational events, such as food and wine festivals, there are different challenges. Such events enhance a city’s image, but they take time to bed in and build a reputation.

“So you’re looking at a few years to get there, and you need money, and you need it upfront, to make that happen, and that’s a bit of a challenge, especially in these times when funding is more uncertain.”

Eliott has seen the surprise and delight that come with unique “reputational” events first-hand.

Over his 20-plus years in the business, he has brought the international Taste Festival brand to New Zealand, and established successful local events such as Winetopia and Restaurant Month.

He began his events career in London while on a nine-year OE, because he had always enjoyed organising functions such as after-ball parties at school and thought it would be fun.

While his first job involved setting up car promotions in shopping centres across the UK, within a few years he was the event director for Taste Festivals around the country, including Bath, Birmingham and Leeds.

The large-scale festivals became a global property, and Eliott played a role in their international expansion to places such as Melbourne, Johannesburg, Paris and Dubai before returning to New Zealand to establish Taste of Auckland.

At that point, family life kicked in for him as his son was born and he decided to stay in New Zealand, he says.

“I set up Lemongrass Productions to operate Taste and to create some events around the gaps in the market that I’d spotted here. There was no wider food and wine festival for Auckland, and nothing devoted to local wines.

“And yet the wine industry has exploded here, going from 50 wineries 40 years ago to over 700 wineries now, and as they are often smaller they need to be good to survive, so the quality is phenomenal.”

Eliott could not believe there was no festival to showcase the country’s wines, and that led him to create Winetopia, now heading into its ninth year. He also teamed up with Heart of the City to grow Restaurant Month from 2012 on.

Taste of Auckland ran from 2009 to 2019, and at its peak attracted over 23,000 people, while Restaurant Month and Winetopia are still going strong, with several hundred thousand diners engaging in the foodie month and almost 7000 attending Winetopia events last year.

Winetopia, which aims to be “fun, not stiff and boring”, now attracts people from overseas, and as New Zealand wine has a strong international brand, there are big plans for the event’s future, Eliott says.

“We are in discussions to expand the event. People might be here for the wine, but what else can they experience in Auckland. We want to give them a knock-out experience that offers more, and tempts them to come back.”

But for now, his focus is on his new Allianz-backed event, the Auckland Travel Show, which will be running on March 22 and 23.

It was prompted by the realisation that the audience coming to his food and wine events also have a love of travel, and that there is a big appetite for travel and new experiences in the post-Covid world.

He said there had not been a consumer travel event along these lines since before Covid, and that it differs from past events because it involved many outbound travel outfits, rather than just one agency.

“It is incredible to launch an event that showcases so many different places ‒ from Iceland to Korea to the Cook Island ‒ and experiences. The idea is people can come for a day and fall in love with travel again, and talk to all sorts of specialists about their options.

“We would like to see people leave saying ‘we’ve done the same beach holiday for years, but this has made us want to do something different’. If we get enough people to do that, it will be successful.”

Over the course of his career, Eliott has had some “heart-stopping moments”, such as the time his event headliner, celebrity chef Marco Pierre White, did not get on to his plane to New Zealand.

“It turned out to be an issue with his assistant’s visa, but Marco was hosting a white-tie dinner for 400 the next day, and there was a very real chance he wouldn’t make it, and we’d be in a lot of trouble. But we managed to get him here just in the knick of time.”

On another occasion, he had to evacuate 4000 attendees from Victoria Park during a storm at Taste of Auckland in 2012.

But it is uncertainty around local government funding for events that worries him these days. It is the biggest challenge for the industry, he says.

“Local governments are struggling to balance the books, but so are lots of the private sector. It’s too simple to say it is up to the private sector to pick up the shortfall.

“And there can be some short-sightedness too. Local government would rather spend the money now, and get it done, rather than building on things long term. But going about events like that doesn’t build a city’s reputation in the same way.”

Instead what happens is fewer events, and fewer opportunities over time, and that leads to people leaving the industry, and taking specialist knowledge with them, Eliott says.

“We don’t want the entire event sector to suffer that knock back, especially when you look at the competition from other cities, such as Sydney which has decided to sell itself via events.

“But as a company, we can’t just sit around and wait for a decision. So we’ve continued to work on our events, and hopefully with the travel show we’ll inspire people to get out there and explore the world.”