Bowie concert promises big bucks for capital

Nearly half the tickets for English singer David Bowie's Wellington concert have been sold to fans from outside the capital.

Bowie performs one New Zealand show only, at Wellington's Westpac Stadium on February 14.

Out-of-town fans would bring millions of dollars into the Wellington economy, Positively Wellington Tourism chief Tim Cossar said.

"It's huge for us in terms of numbers. We're talking about 10,000 or more people coming from outside of town... the Visitor Information Centre has already been inundated with inquiries."

He said it was hard to predict exactly how much the fans might spend during their stay, but it would likely be between $5 million and $8 million.

"It's a pretty significant economic contribution."

Stadium marketing manager Steven Thompson said it was already virtually impossible to find accommodation in Wellington for the weekend of the February 14 concert.

"We even had a hard time finding somewhere for the crew and the guys who put up the scaffolding to stay. We eventually found them an apartment to stay in."

The stage setting for the concert has now been finalised, resulting in 4000 further tickets becoming available and increasing the total capacity for the concert to 28,000 seats.

It will be the first all-reserved-seating concert at the stadium.

"With an 80 foot stage located on the western side of the stadium all seats have great views of the performance stage and Bowie is playing over two hour sets on his current tour, so it is going to be an amazing concert experience," Mr Thompson said.

- NZPA