A MILLION VISITORS HAVE NOW BEEN TO THE AMEX CUP VILLAGE

As at midday Thursday, the American Express Cup Village had had 1,001,741 visitors through the area since the 1st of October.

This is way ahead of predictions and the turning point in numbers followed the Open Day and free Tim Finn concert on the 10th of October. Prior to that visitor numbers were averaging around 5000 a day and after that they leapt up to around 20,000 a day.

The AMEX Cup Village is certainly New Zealand's biggest tourist attraction and numbers are increasing all the time.

PR Manager Sue Foley said the high visitor numbers can be attributed to a number of factors, word of mouth about Auckland's stunning new waterfront, the daily entertainment programme, the super yachts and also being right in the heart of the action of the America's Cup Regatta.

A recent AMEX Cup Village survey showed that 54 per cent of visitors had heard about the facilities through the Village's advertising campaign.

There is nowhere else in the world where you can get this close to a super yacht, be in amongst one of the most prestigious sporting events in the world and all within 5 minutes of the CBD.

With so many entry points to the AMEX Cup Village it was impossible to work out whom the millionth person was but to mark the occasion the Village is running a special promotion. Everyone who visits the area can go to the Village Pavilion and fill out a form where they have to guess how many people will come through the entry points on Saturday November 27th. The person closest wins a 17th man position on a racing boat as well as a trip to Samoa.

Ms Foley said the entire team at AMEX Cup Village were delighted to get a million people. We have worked long and hard to provide the public with a place they not only want to visit but also want to return to. The result speaks for itself on how successful we have been.

© 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>>