NZ Women's Open part of bumper year for Auckland

Kiwi golfer Lydia Ko is among the big names coming to Auckland during a bumper year of events. Picture / Supplied

Auckland is in for a bumper year of events, with the inaugural New Zealand Women's Open and an equestrian showcase coming to the City of Sails for the first time.

A diverse line-up of cultural, sporting and lifestyle events are planned for the next 12 months, coming hot on the heels of successful major ventures such as the British and Irish Lions test series and the World Masters Games, both of which brought thousands of tourists and millions of dollars to the city.

Auckland Tourism, Events and Economic Development (Ateed), on behalf of Auckland Council, is sponsoring 26 events in 2017/18.

New to Auckland are the LPGA-sanctioned McKayson New Zealand Open - starring Kiwi golfer Lydia Ko - the Equitana equestrian showcase and the inaugural NZ Flower & Garden Show, while one-off major events include the Rugby League World Cup 2017 and the Volvo Ocean Race Auckland Stopover.

Auckland mayor Phil Goff said such events made the city "an exciting and interesting place to live".

"They bring in hundreds of thousands of visitor nights every year and boost the Auckland economy," he said.

As well as the new events coming up, the city will see popular festivals - including Diwali, the Lantern Festival, the Writers' Festival, Comedy Festival, and the Pasifika Festival - return to the city once again.

Other staples include the Farmers Santa Parade, Pride Parade, Taste of Auckland, ASB Classic, Splore and New Zealand Fashion Week.

Ateed head of major events Charmaine Ngarimu said major events were recognised the world over as a way to deliver significant social and economic outcomes for cities and their populations.

"Auckland's major events celebrate our local culture and creativity, entertain our people, attract new visitors, provide unique experiences and generate economic activity," she said.

"The World Masters Games 2017 and DHL New Zealand Lions Series are the most recent examples of how events can be used to promote what is special and unique about Auckland as an attractive place for talented people to live, visit, work, study and invest.

"WMG2017 successfully showed visitors from more than 100 countries our place, our people, our hospitality and our culture, while thousands of Aucklanders took part as athletes, spectators and volunteers, and we hosted more than 34,000 international and domestic visitors for the [Lions] series, which is expected to generate $26.7 million for the Auckland economy."

Since Auckland's major events strategy was approved by Auckland Council in 2011, Ateed-sponsored major events had contributed $247m to the regional economy and 1,548,000 visitor nights (from 2011/12 FY - 2015/16 FY), Ateed said.