The Reds winning the Super 15 had already created excitement about rugby, and the latest Australian victory further fuelled the fire, he said.
"A lot of people probably needed the spur of feeling their team was in with a chance to get over the line."
Up to 30,000 Australians are expected to come to the World Cup, higher than original forecasts.
They are also the market in which people can decide to come even at the last minute.
"We still have tickets to all of their matches. It's not much different to the domestic market," Mr Snedden said.
There were cheap transtasman airfares available, and more affordable accommodation was returning to the Auckland market, he said.
Just like New Zealanders - who are likely to be able to buy tickets at the gate to some matches - Australians could wait until just a few days before their team play to decide to come and watch them.
"That's the beauty of that market," Mr Snedden said.
"On the question is there a downside that the All Blacks lost, I think the answer is no. If anything, it raises New Zealanders' level of anxiety for the All Blacks, but for the tournament point of view it's not a bad thing - there's a lot of attention."
Sporting tournaments were only more exciting for having uncertainty of outcomes, he said.
In 12 weeks since June, the tournament had sold $71 million of tickets. It still had eight weeks to sell $28 million and meet its target of $268 million, Mr Snedden said.
Tickets would continue to sell even after the tournament started.
