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Dates for the Diary: How 2013’s Events Calendar is Shaping Up
As reported last week, November’s events calendar helped push a near 13% increase in weekend rooms sold in our partner hotels.
Weekday growth – up 2.3% – was more modest for the month, but finished on a high with average occupancy at 99.7% on the night of the world premiere of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and 95% from Monday 26 – Thursday 29 November.
The world premiere of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey capped off a blockbuster line-up of events this November.
These figures reinforce what we already know: a varied and strategic schedule of events is pivotal to driving weekend and off season visitation, particularly from the domestic market. November is always a strong month for hoteliers, but the weekend performance was clearly a lot more positive due to a string of sell out concerts and shows such as Royal New Zealand Ballet’s Giselle and the diamond anniversary tour of The Mousetrap.
In 2011 there was Rugby World Cup and this year there was The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey World Premiere. I have heard people say, ‘there’s nothing big’ coming up in 2013. But rest assured, the calendar is already looking very strong, and will continue to be added to.
Here’s a few things we already know about the year ahead:
January: Working on it
It’s no secret January is a problem month for Wellington, as locals and New Zealand as a whole pack up to visit the family, the beach and the bach. This is certainly something we at Positively Wellington Tourism continue to be aware of and work on, with this year’s Kids Stay Free campaign pushing travel in late December and January. As well as our usual set of attractions, the first month of 2013 offers many reasons to stop by. Among the highlights are the Game Masters and Angels & Aristocrats exhibitions at Te Papa, Cliff Richard at TSB Arena and Pinot 2013.
February & March: Always hot
The later summer months are strong for Wellington and New Zealand, with the sell-out Hertz Sevens and popular Jim Beam Homegrown.
April: Exciting developments
As well as continued development of the Handmade weekend, April sees the first ever premiership AFL match staged outside of Australia in on Anzac Day.
June: Big names
As you may have read in The Dominion Post recently, we’ll be seeing Andy Warhol’s works at Te Papa. Phantom of the Opera has also just been announced for a June run at St James Theatre.
August: Taste & test
As well as the fifth course of the ever growing Visa Wellington On a Plate, an All Blacks vs Wallabies match on the 24th will be the perfect antidote to the winter season blues.
September & October: 25 years of WOW
You only have to look at how shifting months last year has thrown the month-on-month Commercial Accommodation Monitor results to see how truly fantastic the World of WearableArt Awards Show is for Wellington. Not that anyone in the tourism, hospitality and retail sectors needs convincing! In 2013 we’ll be celebrating the show’s 25th anniversary.
This is but what we know now. What we also know is that there are new announcements around every corner and look forward to hearing and sharing more as they come through. If you aren’t already, sign up to our Positively Informed and KNOW Wellington e-newsletters to keep in the loop on all the industry and events happenings.
Lies, Damned Lies and Statistics
Meaningful numbers are at the heart of good business. They’re vital for setting a robust strategy, analysing campaign successes, business development and stakeholder communications. But as good as they are, numbers can be deceiving. You can’t always take them at face value; you need to review them in context.
The latest Commercial Accommodation Monitor figures for June came out on Friday. At first glance, they don’t look great for Wellington. A 6.7% decline for the month softened the year-to-date growth to 3.2%. But despite the picture this paints, June was still the capital’s second strongest June ever in terms of commercial guest nights. No mean feat given the current economic climate.
So why the drop? As The Dominion Post reported, we’re comparing against a winter boom where we saw 11% growth last June. Our campaign analysis also indicates that this year’s 3 for TWO winter hotel campaign resulted in a 14% increase in weekend rooms sold in our partner hotels this past June, with just a 1.4% decline in total rooms sold. So while the most significant growth from this campaign was realised in its inaugural run in 2011, this year still went very well for our partner hoteliers. An additional factor that enhanced June 2011′s performance was the displacement and concentration of conferencing business before Rugby World Cup 2011 (RWC 2011).
We certainly never like to decline, but it’s understandable off the back off an 11% surge and in light of the change in the conventions market around RWC 2011 last year. The coming months will also need contextual analysis, with the Brancott Estate WOW Awards Show moving back to their usual months of September and October, after having shifted to August last year for RWC 2011. We can expect to see the effects of the shuffles in the domestic and international markets that we know occurred around the Tournament and movement of events surrounding it. It will also be interesting to see what happens in November, where we will see the 450 Americans in town for the Society of American Travel Writers convention in 2011 compared against the arrival of hundreds of media again, this time for the world premiere of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey world premiere.
Our challenge is to keep finding new ways to build on that record growth for the quieter winter months, and analysing our marketing activity to drive continuous improvement.
Wellington Tourism in the GFC
Social media and dinner table conversations may have turned from The GFC to The GC in recent times, but the global financial crisis is still very much a reality for Wellington and New Zealand businesses.
As you may have noticed, we are absolutely unashamedly positive about all things Wellington and tourism, but we’re also realists. We get that times are tough, and we are doing our utmost to protect our sector – and in turn the capital’s economy – from those times through constantly analysing, measuring and improving on our tourism and event marketing activity.
The positive news is that Wellington’s tourism industry is still in growth. In fact latest figures last week revealed visitor spend in the region’s economy increased 8% to $1.4 billion last year – that’s $2663 per minute.
Here’s a few other stats charting growth since the GFC began in 2007 through to the end of the last calendar year:
• Commercial guest nights in Wellington city have increased 13% to over 2.1 million. This is ahead of Auckland (12% growth) and Queenstown (1%) and bucking a trend of decline that has seen guest nights in Rotorua fall nearly 8% and Dunedin down almost 2%.
• Rooms sold in Positively Wellington Tourism’s partner hotels have increased 18% since 2007.
• Growth in Australian arrivals to Wellington has been double that of the rest of New Zealand since 2007 (42.6% vs 21.7%). 2011 alone saw 16% growth in Australian arrivals in Wellington, five times the rest of New Zealand growth rate of 3.3%.
This isn’t to say it’s been business as usual for Wellington’s tourism industry. As many of you will know, there has been a rapid change in the market mix, with arrivals to New Zealand from traditional markets of UK, Europe and US really hurting. When we saw this trend emerging, Positively Wellington Tourism began advocating for and secured a partnership-based fund to launch a regional campaign in Australia. Australian arrivals into Wellington have increased 43% since 2007, with last year alone seeing a 16% increase in arrivals. Visits by our trans-Tasman neighbours have been pivotal in keeping our economy afloat.
The key has, and will continue to be, in being nimble, tactical, innovative and working in partnership. The second of our two pop up restaurants in Melbourne last November involved dozens of restaurants, businesses, regions, food producers, wineries and an airline. It reached 9 million through traditional and social media.
Domestically, a ‘back to basics’ strategy was adopted with a ‘3 Nights for Two’ campaign resulting in a record winter both in commercial guest nights and also record bookings through WellingtonNZ.com. As Jamie noted in his recent post, the summertime follow up was not as successful, highlighting the importance of presenting the right offer at the right time. We are in turn exploring new concepts for the coming summer period.
Wellington’s successes certainly aren’t just our own – we are but one of many players in this game. The key is that we’re playing on the same team, constantly reviewing our performances and revising our game plan accordingly. One of the great legacies that will be left in the wake of the challenges we continue to face, will be the tighter strategic partnerships that have evolved between agencies, regions and businesses. What have you done to adapt to the challenges, share your stories and insights with us, or post a comment below.
A Long Term View Part 4: Events
Events are what keeps the capital alive and our tourism economy pumping. We are delighted to hear of Wellington City Council’s intention to continue to fund the NZ International Arts Festival at current levels, along with plans to develop a further hero event for the city. Further to the areas relating to Positively Wellington Tourism’s funding and Tourism Activities & Infrastructure, we note the following areas Wellington City Council Draft Long-Term Plan that relate to our Events profile:
1. Te Papa Funding
WHAT THE PLAN SUMMARY SAYS:
“We are thinking about reducing our funding to Te Papa so that we can direct those resources to other priority activities to grow our economy. Te Papa is an iconic and uniquely Wellington institution that is visited by 1.3 million visitors each year, with 350,000 of visitors from outside the city and just under 500,000 from overseas. We greatly value this attraction. However, having funded Te Papa since it moved to its waterfront location, we now wish to reallocate a proportion of this significant funding to other economic development activities.“Initially we considered not funding Te Papa altogether, but have instead agreed to consult with the public on the option to fund Te Papa at a level of $1 million annually from 2012/13, a reduction of $1.25 million from our current funding of $2.25 million. 70% of this funding comes from the Downtown Levy and 30% from all ratepayers. We also plan to develop a clear agreement on how our funding will be used.
Councillors have different views on the level of funding Council should provide to Te Papa and so we look forward to hearing your feedback on this proposal before a final decision is made in June.”
OUR POSITION:
PWT has a long standing working relationship with Te Papa – our most popular visitor attraction. It’s a key strategic partner in the destination profile of the coolest little capital in the world. That said, we strongly agree with recommendations that the bulk subsidy provided by Council to Te Papa should be reviewed.
Also provided by the Downtown Levy, this funding needs to deliver a return to the city’s commercial investors. As we closely analyse visitor numbers and expenditure, we know that a significant positive contribution is made to the city economy when an exhibition of popular culture that is attractive to New Zealanders takes place. This in turn sustains jobs and businesses inWellington, as well as adding vitality to the city. We therefore believe funding to Te Papa should be reinstated and tied to the provision of exhibitions that will be visitor attractions in their own right, to even out traditionally quiet periods of the year between Easter and Labour Day.
2. The Hobbit World Premiere
It's estimated The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King world premiere in 2003 contributed about $9.5 million in new spend into the Wellington economy.
WHAT THE PLAN SUMMARY SAYS:
“Wellington will host the world premiere of The Hobbit in late November 2012 by staging a parade, hosting guests, and staging a festival. Wellington previously hosted the world premiere of Lord of the Rings: Return of the King. Over 100,000 people turned out to watch the parade before that premiere, and the event generated significant overseas media interest. This event will be larger and involve everyone in a week-long celebration of Wellington’s creativity.”HOW MUCH AND WHEN: $1.1 million in 2012/13
WHO WILL PAY: Commercial Ratepayers– 100%
OUR POSITION:
The legacy of the Wellington’s exceptionally successful hosting of the world premiere of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King in 2003 is well documented. On a more recent front, Wellington City Council’s fantastic Festival of Carnivale and our international media hosting saw Wellington’s Fan Zone receive the most international media exposure of any of the New Zealand Fan Zones through the tournament. We fully support Wellington City Council in its bid to leverage the exciting opportunity the release the first of the two The Hobbit films presents.
3. FIFA Under 20 Mens World Championships 2015
WHAT THE PLAN SUMMARY SAYS:
“We propose to bid for this event and host a range of games in the city. This event will raise Wellington’s profile internationally and attract visitors to the city. The costs are associated with bid preparation and liaising with football clubs and FIFA.”HOW MUCH AND WHEN: $2.54 million in total over the next four years.
WHO WILL PAY: Commercial Ratepayers – 100%
OUR POSITION:
Wellington has earned its right to expect to play a major role in the 2015 FIFA Men’s Under 20 World Cup. We’re home to Wellington Phoenix and our support for the All Whites in the lead up to the World Cup showed that our city is without question the football capital of New Zealand. The FIFA Under 20 tournament is FIFA’s second largest tournament. In terms of visitor numbers, exposure and economic impact, this will be simply massive – there will be 24 nations involved and an expected global television audience of about half a billion. We fully support Wellington City Council’s bid to score and leverage plenty of game time during the New Zealand leg of this tournament.
:: How to Make Your Submission to the Wellington City Council’s Draft Long-Term Plan:
The draft long-term plan, a summary of the plan and submission forms are available from Wellington City Council’s website. To make an online submission, see: Public Input – Draft Long Term Plan 2012/22, the Wellington City Council Facebook page, or you can also email submissions to longtermplan@wcc.govt.nz.
Submissions close 5.00pm, Friday 18 May.
A Long Term View Part 3: Tourism Activities and Infrastructure
By David Perks
Additional to the areas which directly affect Positively Wellington Tourism’s activities and Events, there are a number of points within the Wellington City Council’s Draft Long-Term Plan that affect key attractions and infrastructure, including:
1. Replacement Venue for Town Hall
2. Eco-city
3. Cycle Networks
1. Positively Wellington Venues – Replacement for Town Hall
WHAT THE PLAN SUMMARY SAYS:
“We propose to fund Positively Wellington Venues to refurbish the TSB Bank Arena and Shed 6 on the waterfront as replacement venues for the Town Hall while it is being earthquake strengthened. A lot of convention, cultural and community activity will be displaced from the Town Hall during its strengthening…The refurbished waterfront venues would not only meet the temporary need but also cater for additional demand for convention space, which Positively Wellington Venues plans to generate.”HOW MUCH AND WHEN: $4 million capital spending in 2012/13
WHO WILL PAY: Initial Funding: Borrowings– 100%; Ongoing Operating Costs: User Charges and External Funding– 5%; Downtown Levy Ratepayers– 40%; All Ratepayers – 55%
OUR POSITION:
The conventions market is critical to the city. This lucrative tourism industry sector is worth an estimated $100 million to Wellington each year and we continue to make headway in this competitive market. The importance of the proposal to invest $4 million to fund the refit of alternative venues while the Town Hall is earthquake strengthened is twofold.
Firstly, it will provide the city with a large enough space to cater to the market during the closure of the Town Hall. This is key. If we don’t develop facilities that will fill this gap, the loss to Wellington is forecast to be in excess of $30 million in new spend across the two years the Town Hall is expected to be out of service.
The second area of importance is that refit of such facilities will not just be of use as a replacement for the Town Hall. It will also in the future allow us to significantly increase the conventions market as it will give the city the capacity to host two large conferences concurrently when the Town Hall is back in the fold. This again talks back to the ‘Destination Wellington’ initiative as the city looks to build its business and academic profile.
2. ECO CITY – A new trust to manage ZEALANDIA, Wellington Zoo, the Botanic Garden and Otari-Wilton’s Bush
WHAT THE PLAN SUMMARY SAYS:
“We’re proposing to establish a Council Controlled Organisation to manage Zealandia, Wellington Zoo, the Botanic Garden and Otari-Wilton’s Bush. Together, these places enhance and promote Wellington’s biodiversity, conservation and education close to the heart of our city. The new model would cost $1.34 million to set up and run over the next three years. The establishment of ECO City will provide greater efficiencies by allowing them to share services such as finance, IT systems and marketing and facilities management. There will also be better opportunities for destination marketing, membership systems and cross-selling to visitors and members. It can all be promoted locally, regionally and internationally through the Council’s marketing arm, Positively Wellington Tourism. A separate and concurrent consultation process is being run on this proposal and the other options that were considered. See our website for more information on this proposal and how to make a submission on it.”
OUR POSITION:
All of the included attractions are fantastic assets for visitors and in particular ZEALANDIA and Wellington Zoo are pivotal to the city’s product offering to trade. There are many ways to look at this issue of attraction operations management, but as the city’s marketers we certainly see value in grouping together of key related attractions that can help champion the Destination Wellington cause.
3. Cycle Networks
WHAT THE PLAN SUMMARY SAYS:
“We propose to create new cycling routes across the city.
1) We propose to complete a shared walking/cycling path through Tawa from Takapu Station to Keneperu Station, at which point Porirua City Council will continue the path onward to Porirua Station.
2) We propose to investigate and, if we receive NZTA funding, create a safe walking/cycling path for commuters between Island Bay and the city.
3) We propose to investigate and, if we receive NZTA funding, continue to invest in The Great Harbour Way walking and cycling route, which runs around Wellington harbour from Fitzroy Bay in the east to Sinclair Head in the west.”HOW MUCH AND WHEN: $1 million per annum from 2012/13 until 2018/19
WHO WILL PAY: Initial Funding: NZTA – 54%; Borrowings – 46% Ongoing Operating Costs: All Ratepayers– 100%
OUR POSITION:
Positively Wellington Tourism is a great supporter of the development of visitor-friendly cycleways that connect the region and its attractions.
:: How to Make Your Submission to the Wellington City Council’s Draft Long-Term Plan:
The draft long-term plan, a summary of the plan and submission forms are available from Wellington City Council’s website. To make an online submission, see: Public Input – Draft Long Term Plan 2012/22, the Wellington City Council Facebook page, or you can also email submissions to longtermplan@wcc.govt.nz.
Submissions close 5.00pm, Friday 18 May.
