Who cares about the Cup ... and who doesn't

The five-month programme of Louis Vuitton and America's Cup racing, which coincides with our peak summer tourism season, offers a powerful drawcard for visitors from some of our key tourism markets.

But the regatta is not a selling point for all potential travellers.

AUSTRALIA

(622,000 Australians visited New Zealand in the year to the end of August)

Our neighbours are our biggest tourist market Australians spent $932 million while in New Zealand in the year to the end of June.

But with no Australian syndicate challenging for the America's Cup this year, interest in the regatta across the Tasman is minimal and Tourism New Zealand is not making much use of the cup in its Australian marketing campaigns.

UNITED KINGDOM

(229,000)

Tourism New Zealand says the return of a UK challenge GBR has helped to raise New Zealand's profile in what is already our second largest tourism market.

Tourism New Zealand's London office has been working with GBR, and has been involved in several yachting events, including major boat shows and last year's 150th America's Cup Jubilee in Cowes.

UNITED STATES

(194,000)

The presence of three US challengers has helped generate interest in the cup and New Zealand, particularly in the home cities of the challenges - Seattle (One World), San Francisco (Oracle BMW), and New York (Stars & Stripes).

Tourism New Zealand and Trade New Zealand have hosted VIP seminars on the cup in these centres and Tourism New Zealand has been involved in a series of US boat shows.

JAPAN

(150,000)

Nippon Challenge part of the America's Cup since 1987 decided in 2000 it could not afford to be part of the event this year.

As a result, Tourism New Zealand expects the number of Japanese tourists interested in travelling here for the cup will be in the hundreds, rather than the thousands.

KOREA (100,000) and CHINA (67,000)

Two important and growing markets, but both have limited interest in yachting so neither are on Tourism New Zealand's America's Cup marketing hit list.

GERMANY

(48,000)

With the Illbruck syndicate pulling out of the cup because of a lack of money, German interest in the regatta is also expected to be below levels of the last series.

But German carmaker BMW's sponsorship of the Oracle BMW challenge has generated some media coverage.

SINGAPORE

(33,000)

Despite the lack of an Asian cup challenge, Tourism New Zealand says the Singapore Government's decision to make sailing one of the eight national sports it invests in has captured the imagination of Singaporeans.

SWITZERLAND

(14,000)

Alinghi's strong challenge for the cup has heightened Swiss interest in New Zealand, and Tourism New Zealand considers the event "an excellent opportunity to communicate to a high-yield and highly targeted audience" in that country.

Switzerland is expected to offer the "best result out of Europe" in terms of promoting the cup.

nzherald.co.nz/americascup

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