News Release

Tuesday, 1 October 2013

Creative capital lights up for WOW®

Wellington is again wowing visitors and locals as the city celebrates the event’s 25th anniversary.

To mark the 25th year of the World of WearableArt™, 25 bespoke lanterns have been hung under the sails on Queens Wharf as part of the city dressing for this year’s event.

Positively Wellington Tourism (PWT) General Manager Marketing Sarah Meikle says the installation celebrates the event’s long history and the innovation of the designers involved.

“For WOW’s 25th anniversary we wanted to show how the event lights up Wellington each year with its magic and creativity. So, we thought it only fitting that the city dressing reflects that.”

The 1.2m high lanterns have been created to complement the Moroccan lantern design used in the award-winning garment Noor Reverie. Designed by Massey University Wellington student Rebecca Maxwell, the garment has been the centrepiece of this year’s marketing campaign for the show, Ms Meikle says.

As well as the installation, 63 stores are taking part in the annual WOW® window dressing competition, run by PWT in conjunction with the event organisers. Bars and restaurants throughout the city are also offering a range of pre and post-show deals.

“The way businesses embrace and celebrate the WearableArt Awards™ is a big part of the whole experience for visitors, with many telling us the retail windows are a real highlight,” Ms Meikle says.

Throughout the show period, PWT is also promising a number of lucky locals and visitors will ‘Be WOWed in Wellington’, with a range of surprise and delight experiences planned that will celebrate the magic of WOW®.

“WOW® takes the ordinary and turns it into something extraordinary,” Ms Meikle says. “We want visitors and locals alike to have an extraordinary time in Wellington and are doing our bit to add a bit of magic along the way. On Friday night, for example, we hired a limousine and had that pick up unsuspecting WOW-goers who had ordered a taxi from their hotel. And we have a few more tricks up our sleeve over the coming days.”

Be WOWed in Wellington…

:: Visit the lantern installation under the sails on Queens Wharf and share your photos with #WOWinWLG.

:: Tour the 63 retail window dressing competition entries. You can view the WOW® Insider’s Guide to Wellington map of participating retailers at WellingtonNZ.com/WOW, or pick up a copy at the Wellington i-SITE Visitor Centre in Civic Square.

:: Visit The WOW Factor: 25 Years in the Making – a free exhibition that unlocks some of the magic of WOW®, both on stage and behind the scenes – at Te Papa.

Ends…/

NOTES TO EDITORS
WOW® Awards Show Visitation and Economic Impact
• Over 47,000 people saw last year’s show, with around 30,000 of those being visitors to the capital.
• An economic impact assessment by McDermott Miller in 2009 revealed the show brought an estimated $15.1 million in new spending into the city. Of that:
- $4.8 million was on retail (32%)
- $3.9 million on accommodation (26%)
- $3.5 million on hospitality (23%)
- $1.8 million on business services (12%)
- Just over $1 million on local transport and other attractions (7%)
Positively Wellington Tourism (PWT)
PWT is the regional tourism organisation for Wellington. It is a council-controlled organisation primarily funded by Wellington City Council through the Downtown Levy, a targeted rate paid by commercial ratepayers in downtown Wellington.

Wellington Tourism statistics
• Visitors spend over $3,100 in the Wellington region per minute – that’s $1.7 billion every year. (Source: Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment, Regional Tourism Estimates, YE March 2012).
• Over four million visits are made to Wellington every year: 750,000 international and over 3.4 million domestic. (Source: Ministry of Economic Development Regional Tourism Data).

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