America's Cup parade in Auckland cost $400,000

Peter Burling (L) and Grant Dalton (R) celebrate as Glenn Ashby holds the Americas Cup during the Team New Zealand Americas Cup Welcome Home Parade. Photo / Getty Images

Auckland's America's Cup victory parade will cost taxpayers and ratepayers about $400,000.

Final figures are still being tallied, but Charmaine Ngarimu, head of major events at Auckland Tourism, Events and Economic Development (Ateed), said the council-controlled organisation and central government will split most of the bill equally.

Emirates Team New Zealand sponsors and private businesses, including Viaduct Harbour Holdings Limited, also made smaller contributions to the July 6 parade.

Ateed said it was unable to say what other private organisations financially supported because of commercial confidence agreements

Team New Zealand won the revered Cup by defeating Oracle Team USA on June 27.

About 80,000 people gathered in central city streets to welcome the yachties and the Auld Mug home and even more watched the festivities from the Waitemata Harbour.

Most of planning and organisation was done only days before the event.

More than 40 agencies and companies - including the police, Fire and Emergency New Zealand, Auckland Transport, NZTA and security firms - helped organise the parade, Ngarimu said.

Experts from several agencies stationed at the event operations centre monitored CCTV and traffic camera footage to ensure everyone attending and participating was safe.

Meanwhile, security and logistics staff oversaw crowd control, setting up signs and barriers and distributing information about the parade route and how to get to and from the event.

The Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron managed the security for the Cup itself, Ngarimu said.

The parade started in Queen St and went along the waterfront before finishing at the Viaduct Harbour, which hosted Team New Zealand during the 2000 and 2003 America's Cup racing.

Ateed's top management started planning the parade a few days before the competition began to make sure city services were "well aligned" if Team New Zealand won, Ngarimu said.

Once the victory was secured on June 27 Ateed put together a projects team and daily planning meetings started. The first two-hour operational meeting with all agencies and organisations involved was held on June 29.