Amex Cup Village

LATEST EVENTS IN THE AMEX CUP VILLAGE

When the American Express New Zealand Cup Village opened on the 1st of October the target was to have three million visitors come through the facility. At that stage it seemed an ambitious target to have close to the total population of the country to visit but the good news is that we have nearly already reached the half way mark. As at the end of the weekend just gone visitor numbers were 1,458,951. Obviously people are voting with their feet on what they think of the new rejuvenated waterfront.

More often than not we are asked just what is it worth to New Zealand having so many super yachts in town? Well one skipper I spoke to said he is spending on average, $100 000 a month just on basics like provisions and maintenance. That doesn't include anything the crews spend personally. There are now 58 super yachts in the AMEX Cup Village marina and its estimated the value of boats not including the cup racing crafts is well in excess of $300 million. A further 10 super yachts are due over the next three weeks.

Good news for South Island tourist operators. An Auckland travel booking office says many visitors to the America's Cup regatta are going into the office and they all want to go to one place. The South Island. They have all heard about places like the Milford Sounds and Queenstown and are very keen to check it out for themselves.

Check out the newest TV Channel in town, Village TV. The programme content includes highlight packages from the racing, stories on life around the AMEX Village and interviews with all the various characters associated with the America's Cup Regatta. To watch though there is one catch. You can only see it on a screen in the AMEX Cup Village. Making her debut is Village TV presenter Evie Ashton who originally comes from Rotorua.

This Wednesday will see an Xmas Tree go into the Village Pavilion but the decorations are what will make it really special. Children of syndicate members have put them together after having material supplied to them by Auckland 2000. Instead of the usual Xmas fairy going on the top they have come up with something far more original, flags representing the countries of those teams taking part in the America's Cup Regatta.

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