The New Zealand Black Foils SailGP team during a day when racing was scrubbed due to dolphins being present on the course. Photo / Supplied
In Ōtautahi Christchurch, event planners thought Sir Russell Coutts was joking when he suggested running one of the world’s biggest sailing events in its port four years ago.
It has now hosted the SailGP event twice, attracting tens of thousands of spectators, some threatened dolphins and criticism for high-profile race delays.
But there was praise for Lyttelton as a venue, none more enthusiastic than that from Black Foils skipper Pete Burling who after this year’s event texted a ChristchurchNZ boss.
“S*** that worked out well. Epic day. Thanks again for all the help. Pass on my thanks to everyone in the team. Best day in SGP history,” Burling texted ChristchurchNZ’s general manager of destination and attraction, Loren Aberhart.
The council-controlled organisation is in the midst of a debrief and working on the serious business of making it a regular event.
The city launched a major events strategy as part of its post-earthquake tourism recovery strategy and while the programme has its critics, ChristchurchNZ and operators say it’s now paying big dividends. After the earthquakes of 2010-11, facilities were destroyed and the supporting infrastructure needed to be rebuilt.
Christchurch had to think creatively to get the events it did in the interim and planners are now confident more big gatherings are firmly back on the calendar as part of a national strategy that puts their value at close to $700 million. The city is making up for lost time and opportunities that started with the painful loss of hosting Rugby World Cup matches in 2011.
For SailGP this year, Christchurch had to scramble at short notice to put on the sailing after the lack of spectator facilities harpooned Auckland’s turn to host it.
Aberhart said Sail GP had in a short space of time become incredibly important to the city.
“We’re so proud that we’ve been able to pull off an event in 12 weeks of this size and scale. It brings in 22,000 visitors, $4m in visitor spend and heaps of legacy and brand benefits for the city to showcase what we do here,“ she said.
While Coutts, and some fans, were furious at delays caused by requirements to protect Hector’s dolphins in the marine mammal sanctuary, the rules worked as they should. Dolphins were protected and sailing took place.
“Obviously hosting big events is challenging. And we’ve all seen what happens when you have legislation in New Zealand around protecting our amazing taonga, our dolphins,“ Aberhart said.
“I think hosting SailGP was something that was completely unexpected for Christchurch when we first announced it – it made people look at us differently and think we were doing things differently, we’re innovating for the future.“
Christchurch paid SailGP $1m in 2023 for hosting rights but this was cut to $400,000 this year, given the tight turnaround.
“It is a is a huge repositioning of the city. We’d love to keep it year-on-year but of course it comes with challenges, as we’ve seen.“
She says marine mammal protection law applies throughout the country and if there were dolphins on the race course in any other city, racing would have to pause.
Christchurch would love to host the event again. SailGP has said it will return to Australasia next year but hasn’t supplied more details.
”The negative focus on operational challenges that can be easily overcome by good communication and planning is disappointing,” Aberhart said after the event.
“We can take away plenty of lessons to deliver an even better event in Season 5, especially if we work in partnership with all parties with positive intent,” ChristchurchNZ’s head of major events Karena Finnie said.
SailGP was due to make its announcement on venues for next season around June. “We are on contract for delivery of 2025. We’re debriefing now on 2024 and simultaneously discussing 2025.“
While economic spinoff underpins the strategy, Aberhart told the Herald major events had many spinoffs.
“Events are critical not only to the regeneration of Christchurch post-quake but also for our attractiveness as a city. They give us community pride, great city branding and have legacy outcomes beyond just hosting an event in the city,” she said.
“They’re are so important to the future of Christchurch and we want to be at the front and centre of events in New Zealand.“
Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment major events manager Kylie Hawker-Green said major events provide countless benefits, ranging from boosting international tourism and bringing communities together to strengthening “Brand New Zealand”.
New Zealand Events Association research suggests events contribute an estimated $696m annually towards New Zealand’s GDP.
The benefit of major events extends far beyond the events themselves, which is why NZ Major Events proactively works to attract events to New Zealand that align with Government objectives.
Work to attract and secure major events starts years in advance of the event and requires collaboration with key national organisations and strong relationships with international stakeholders (event owners and international rights holders).
Ministry staff are mostly focused on securing and attracting major events that will be delivered in 2027 and beyond.
“New Zealand has a strong global reputation as a major and mega event host and is viewed as a safe hosting environment, as well as being a welcoming host for events and international visitors.“
The Government has allotted $5m to smaller regions to attract events and Auckland business group Heart of the City is calling for more sustainable ways of funding ways of attracting them and tourism infrastructure long-term. Momentum is building for implementation of a nationwide bed tax on tourists and it is likely the International Visitor Levy will go up from $35.
University of Otago tourism lecturer Dr Stu Hayes said the Fifa Women’s World Cup netted the country about $110m last year and was a great example of how wide the benefits can be.
“The global advertising that came with that event ... offered New Zealand a really great opportunity to showcase what the country has on offer, much more broadly and obviously the cities that hosted those those games.“
Big sports events need big venues and they come with enormous price tags.
In Christchurch the new 25,000-30,000 seat Te Kaha stadium, just an 11-minute walk from the city’s main entertainment strip on Oxford Tce, is seen as a game changer. But an expensive one.
The price tag has blown out from $470m to close to $700m for the completely covered stadium and like the rebuilding of the city’s cathedral, has been a divisive issue. The economic modelling of benefits have been questioned for what is formally the Canterbury Multi-Use Arena.
Tourism and Hospitality Minister Matt Doocey comes from the area, his father worked in hotels in the city and he reckons Te Kaha will be a winner when it finally opens in April 2026.
He hoped Te Kaha will be an economic driver for the whole of the South Island, as well as Canterbury.
“I think the new stadium will be the jewel in the crown of the recovery because we will be hopefully attracting international sports as well as international acts.“
ChristchurchNZ’s Finnie says having a covered roof meant the city could be a year-round venue.
“We all know there’s a little bit of a gap from a perspective in our winter calendar. Last year during the Fifa Women’s World Cup, we were able to host team camps, but not matches.“
Civic leaders are mindful of pushback to big events from some residents, especially those who see their rates rise to pay for facilities they may not want or use.
How hard is it to sell a big event?
“I wouldn’t say easy because it really depends on the event. How the community can get involved, whether it’s affordable or achievable for them to be involved, what the opportunities are for them as well from a local resident perspective,“ she said.
“It’s all very well and good hosting an international event, but you need to have a legacy piece back for the community in a way for them to get involved.“
If there were potential areas of concern, such as the threat to Hector’s dolphins from sailboats, identifying groups to engage with early is key.
“We would never go out and announce an event without the appropriate level of partnership and support.“
The lack of venues forced the city to be more creative. Homegrown music festival Electric Avenue has been going 10 years and grown to be an event worth about $5m in extra spending.
Other events that have sprung up in the past few years are even more grassroots. The Duke Festival of Surfing in New Brighton honours the visit of the Hawaiian acknowledged as the father of modern surfing, Duke Kahanamoku. A hardcore group of volunteers keep alive the legend of Hawaii’s ultimate waterman with a family-friendly event that is also part of the national surfing competition calendar. Thousands go the Duke Fest in March based around the pier, (another example of a community driven project) generating much-needed economic activity in the seaside suburb.
ChristchurchNZ’s Aberhart says small events “are incredibly important“ to community-building and generating community pride and goodwill.
Some business owners, particularly in Lyttelton, reported mixed benefits from SailGP last year. Businesses around Christchurch benefit in a variety of ways.
Emma Mettrick, co-owner-operator of Twenty Seven Steps restaurant on historic New Regent St, said while the mega events don’t necessarily benefit her business, it’s the proximity to the theatre and entertainment area that are most important.
“Our locals are our bread and butter but your tourism and events are your cream.“
New luxury hotel, The Mayfair, was full to capacity over SailGP weekend, with guests including the Black Foils.
Director and co-owner Sam Stapley is from the city and left for overseas about two years after the earthquake in 2011. He returned and developed the $23m hotel, which opened in 2022.
He says the city wants to be more than just the gateway to the South Island. Big events keep visitors in Christchurch for longer.
“They create economic value and the flow-on effects are just massive. A city like Christchurch needs that.“
“They’re the backbone of bringing people into the city,“ says Stapley.
Events, festivals, a football game or SailGP boost occupancies ,which he said was important for operators like him.
Stu Waddel, owner of Durham St North bike business Chill, said Electric Avenue in Hagley Park was a great example of how events could grow to meet demand from tens of thousands of festival-goers, without putting too much pressure on infrastructure and facilities.
“Ii was an event for young and the old and they’ve learned through the years of running this - the event itself with that many people in our park flowed really nicely.“
Through tragic earthquakes the city got a blank canvas on which to rebuild facilities but ChristchurchNZ’s Finnie said the recovery has been tough.
“We have definitely missed out on a lot. It’s taken us a good 10 years to be able to grow back what we call a major events portfolio and be seen on that international circuit. We have been able to think smarter, think more creatively in the interim.“
The Herald travelled to Christchurch courtesy of ChristchurchNZ.
Grant Bradley has been working at the Herald since 1993. He is the Business Herald’s deputy editor and covers aviation and tourism.
Rates for hotels have soared in one tourist hotspot while others have suffered.