Tourist influx means business boom

By NICK PERRY

A city crammed with tourists, abuzz with excitement and awash with cash is how the promoters of the cup predicted Auckland would look about now.

The economic benefits were going to be huge - an extra $500 million to $800 million pumped into the Auckland economy alone, anticipated economist Dr Brent Wheeler in 1996, while Ernst & Young put the benefit to the country at $1.3 billion.

The reports included direct and indirect investments. Simply, they aimed to measure not only the cost of a building, but also the $5 a workman spent on lunch.

Sir Peter Blake and others argued that to reap the rewards the Viaduct Basin needed to be transformed into a vibrant village - with an injection of public money.

In 1995 the cost of the village was going to be $13 million. By early the next year it had jumped to more than $40 million, then steadily increased from $58 to $80 million, with the final cost now put at over $125 million.

Wheeler believes it has been worth it, that the money has come to town. He says everything predicted in the reports, such as the apartment and retail boom in the village, has come to fruition.

He says the benefits have permeated through the region, although admits a person living in West Auckland or Manukau City might not experience any change in their lives.

He says there have been no major failures in what was planned, but anecdotally, downsides could include a transfer of business from areas like Ponsonby Rd to the harbour.

He wonders, too, if the boom has been as big for retailers as it has been for restaurants and bars. The next "massive challenge" is whether the region-wide momentum can be maintained after the cup is over.

The Office of Tourism and Sport is undertaking the task of measuring the economic impact with a $150,000 study. But the results will not be released until July.

It is clear the benefits some hoped for have not come, however. For instance, real estate agents in Whangaparoa started adding tens of thousands to the value of properties as far back as the early 1980s, promising front-yard views of the cup if and when we won.

One to buy into the hype was disgraced British author and millionaire Jeffrey Archer, who bought almost 25ha for $775,000, later developing plans to subdivide the land into 21 lifestyle blocks.

Lord Archer finally sold his undeveloped block to the Rodney District Council for $2.27 million last year, having achieved less than an 8 per cent per annum return.