Auckland centre boosts MICE presence

Auckland’s new international convention centre will officially start bidding for large-scale, international conference business early in the New Year. The NZ$470 million New Zealand International Convention Centre at the heart of Auckland city will be New Zealand’s largest conference and exhibition space, capable of hosting conventions of 3,000 delegates and one-off events of up to 4,000 people on the exhibition floor. Simon Jamieson, NZICC general manager says the convention centre is needed to attract large-scale conferences and events that New Zealand otherwise would miss out on. “The NZICC will be a development of scale in New Zealand to attract the part of the market that isn’t coming here at the moment,” said Jamieson. “The NZICC is in close proximity to the city’s universities, business headquarters and innovation hubs, which will allow event organisers to tap in to New Zealand’s leading knowledge centres.” Anna Hayward, manager Auckland Convention Bureau says the development of the NZICC provides fantastic opportunities for Auckland to be more competitive on the global stage in its bids to host large-scale business events. “This is an exciting time for Auckland. We are developing a new global brand identity and story for Auckland that will illustrate what makes our region unique, and we will soon have a smart and innovative convention centre that will complement this story and support the future growth of the business events sector for Auckland,” she said.