REAL New Zealand Festival is the untold story for Rugby World Cup
2011 according to CEO Martin Snedden.
Speaking at the TRENZ conference on 24 May he said the Festival
enabled the rugby tournament to be taken to all parts of New
Zealand with Kiwis coming together in a celebration of our country.
"The REAL New Zealand Festival
will be the largest Festival of its kind to take place in New
Zealand, bringing together all of those events and activities that
we Kiwis are most proud of and represent what we, as a nation, are
all about," he said.
In his update to tourism representatives he said more than 100
countries were represented in the ticket sales with an expected 60
per cent of the total sales in Australia coming from Wallaby
supporters, with the remainder likely to be expats.
"It is a great result for us (tournament organisers) but also a
great result for New Zealand. Indications are these visitors won't
sit still for 23 days but will get up and move around the
country."
"We deliberately decided to keep the England rugby team in
Dunedin, as it would help a very large supporter base to stay in
the South Island and enjoy what it has to offer, including all the
festival activity."
Snedden also spoke about the power and importance of social media
in maintaining interest in the Tournament.
"Only last week we passed the mark of one million fans on our Facebook page, we have had over 1.5 million
views of our video content published on YouTube and are followed by
over 26,000 fans on Twitter.
"The reality is Facebook has been a fantastic tool for us. Only 11
per cent of those using it are from New Zealand - which means there
are in excess of 890,000 international 'fans' of the Tournament. I
am sure these various communications have had a direct influence on
ticket sales offshore."
Communities coming together
Passionate rugby fans and hospitable Kiwi hosts all over New
Zealand are throwing down the Rugby World Cup 2011 welcome mat -
nowhere more so than in the 24 communities that will officially
host visiting rugby teams.
With the 24 host towns spread throughout New Zealand, and the
nationwide REAL New Zealand festival of events running alongside
the rugby spectacle, no part of New Zealand will be immune from the
excitement.
Each team, including the All Blacks, will stay in a variety of
locations for longer and shorter periods - from two to 25 nights -
during the six-week tournament that kicks off on 9 September
2011.
Some teams are spending most of their time in one city, such as
South Africa (Wellington) and France (North Shore), while others -
like Ireland which will set up in six different venues - have gone
for a more itinerant approach so they can experience different
parts of the country.
With an estimated 85,000 overseas supporters, along with 2000
international media and thousands of corporate and VIP guests
expected, New Zealand is preparing to host the nation's biggest
ever party.