TWO HUNDRED THOUSAND PLUS VISIT AMEX CUP VILLAGE IN ONE WEEK

The AMEX Cup Village is now New Zealand's number one visitor attraction. In the last week 239,486 people came and shared in the excitement of what is proving to be the country's most favoured gathering point.

Since AMEX Cup Village staff started counting at the beginning of this month just under 600,000 people have visited the area and its fully expected that over a million people will have been to the Village by the end of next month.

The highest visitor count so far has been Sunday over Labour weekend which saw 71,089 people come and see what is happening on Auckland's new waterfront destination.

AMEX Cup Village PR Manager Sue Foley said,' these figures have exceeded our expectation and it does appear we are succeeding in one of our major aims. This was to make the area attractive to everybody and that everyone would feel welcome.

We have been receiving very positive feedback about the free daily entertainment. In addition it shows that there is far greater interest in the America's Cup regatta than come people may have predicted. It is the most exciting event this country has ever staged and the public are appreciating how close they can get to the syndicate bases with the way the AMEX Cup Village is set up.

November also has three major events these being The Exponent Concert on the 12th November, and the Australian band Silver Chair on the 26th both these will be ticketed. However on the 20th of November the British band S Club 7 are giving a free concert. They are currently sitting at number 2 in the British Pop Charts.

© Scoop Media

Gordon Campbell: On the Sony cyber attack

Given the layers of meta-irony involved, the saga of the Sony cyber attack seemed at the outset more like a snarky European art film than a popcorn entry at the multiplex.

Yet now with (a) President Barack Obama weighing in on the side of artistic freedom and calling for the US to make a ‘proportionate response’quickly followed by (b) North Korea’s entire Internet service going down, and with both these events being followed by (c) Sony deciding to backtrack and release The Interview film that had made it a target for the dastardly North Koreans in the first place, then ay caramba…the whole world will now be watching how this affair pans out. More>>