John Roughan: It'll be a great Cup... honestly

The Viaduct will attract Cup visitors, and it is important that they don't feel fleeced there. Photo / Babiche Martens

Before we welcome the world to a rugby festival next year, someone should run a closer rule over the people who will be selling services here. In Europe a few weeks ago I had the interesting experience of a rip-off.

Arriving early one morning in Prague, weary from an overnight train trip, I exchanged some euro for what appeared to be tens of thousands of kopeks and agreed to give a thousand of them to a taxi driver.

The journey to the hotel was not long and the driver kept us talking. I was still calculating the currency conversion as the fellow unloaded our bags, pocketed the note and drove quickly away.

He had taken me for about $50. The hotel check-in clerk confirmed the fare should have been a fraction of that. She looked slightly embarrassed.

The interesting element of the experience was its psychological effect on me. Going out to discover the city that day, I didn't feel like spending anything.

Every trifling expense aroused my suspicion. Every price put me through an exchange rate calculation and really I couldn't be bothered.

The city felt like a nest of rogues and they were not getting any more out of me.

The attitude was as real as it was unfair. I got over it, but for quite a while other traders suffered for that cabbie's opportunism. It has caused me to rethink the subject of deregulation a little and to wonder whether we take tourism seriously enough.

Deregulation of activities such as taxi driving has much to be said for it. They provide ready employment for immigrants and people with few other skills. They are services that customers can see, evaluate and select. Unrestricted competition is the best regulator of them.

But newly arrived customers are at a disadvantage, and if my response was typical the community at large stands to lose.

A few months ago, British rugby writer Peter Bills wrote a piece in the Herald criticising overpriced food and drink in New Zealand restaurants. He cited Kermadec at the Viaduct, and was roundly dismissed in the paper's letters columns because it is not typical.

His critics missed his point. Tourists don't know what is typical. They cannot be expected to spend their limited time in a new city surveying its service industries. In downtown Auckland they are drawn to the waterfront. It is in our interests that eating there should not leave them feeling fleeced and gutted.

This day next year Auckland will be abuzz with possibly 40,000 extra visitors for the Rugby World Cup final. Most will have been here since the semifinals last weekend. A great deal of taxpayers' money has been invested in the event because, all going well, it could have lasting benefits for New Zealand tourism.

The visitors' experience will be reflected in television and newspaper coverage in participating countries and beyond. It will make the country's reputation for good or ill over the next few years.

Ever since hosting rights were awarded to us we have been regaled by reports of the extortionate rates home-owners are asking for letting their houses to Cup followers. "Asking" is the operative word.

Fortunately Tourism New Zealand and the event organisation, RNZ 2011, have set up a website page giving prospective Cup visitors a guide to the true range and price of accommodation here.

Avaricious home-owners may be destined for disappointment, but what can be done about taxis and the like? A taxi ride over Auckland's distances costs a fortune at any time, and the main tourist route from the airport to the city can test any visitor's confidence.

Many have thought they're being taken for a ride when the cab leaves the motorway at Onehunga and they find themselves in the streets of Epsom.

It would be surprising, I suspect, to see your own country as a tourist. Visitors notice the clarity (or not) of road signs, the quality of service, the helpfulness of people in the street.

We fondly suppose these things to be exemplary. Corruption is not in our culture, hidden charges are rare, prices include GST, we don't expect tips.

Closer regulation can probably not prevent the odd scoundrel spoiling someone's visit. We can only hope that all branches of the hospitality sector are alert to the damage one dishonest operator can do and can freeze it out of business.

My Prague hotel clerk could have been more concerned. She could have asked me for the name or number of the cab. That she didn't, told me more about her country than the thief did.

Some post-communist societies possibly have yet to learn that capitalism runs on trust and reputations make you rich.

Everyone in tourism here knows that, don't they?