Vector Arena helps revive live music scene

Vector Arena helps revive live music scene

Thirty headline events since the beginning of the year have drawn a combined audience of close to 185,000 to Auckland’s Vector Arena, underlining the important role it has played in reviving the country’s live music scene, and bringing more visitors to Auckland.

Highlights of the first six months of 2009 include performances by Leonard Cohen, Eric Clapton, Coldplay, Kings of Leon, The Killers, Duffy, The Pussycat Dolls and Simon and Garfunkel.

Vector Arena Chief Executive Guy Ngata says that without Vector Arena these world class acts would not have come to New Zealand.

“We’ve provided promoters and artists with a great venue that they want to play at, and made it worthwhile for them to add us to their tour list. That means people get to enjoy entertainers they would not otherwise see, and as concerts are increasingly coming exclusively to Auckland, it is drawing more visitors to the city too,” he says.

“For example, more than 20,000 people enjoyed the two fantastic sell-out Simon and Garfunkel shows recently, with about 40 per cent of those people purchasing their tickets from outside Auckland.”

Mr Ngata says these numbers show just how keen people are to see the ‘once in a lifetime’ shows that are coming to Vector Arena, and how they are driving the positive economic impact the venue is having on Auckland.

“People who travel to Auckland are not just coming to Vector Arena, they are staying overnight and having dinner, shopping and visiting our other attractions while they are here,” he says.

Tourism Auckland’s Domestic Tourism Survey shows that more than 2.2 million people visited Auckland last year from other parts of the country. On average, each domestic tourist who stays the night spends $236 dollars on other activities such as shopping and dining.

“That means that the Simon and Garfunkel concerts at Vector Arena injected an estimated $1.8m into Auckland’s economy, in a single weekend,” says Mr Ngata.

In just over two years since Vector Arena opened, it is not just concerts that have been held there. In the first half of this year other audiences have also enjoyed Crusty Demons, Billy Connelly, The Wiggles and Disney on Ice: Princess Wishes.

“Kiwis are very lucky they’ve been able to see many artists at their peak - for example Coldplay, Kings of Leon and The Killers – along with the recently on sale Black Eyed Peas, who sit at number one and number three on the New Zealand singles chart.

ENDS