RWC 2011 drives record number of international visitors through New Zealand's largest gateway

Hailed as a success for all of New Zealand, the Rugby World Cup 2011 is credited with driving a huge increase in visitor numbers to the country from rugby playing nations. Today, new traveller statistics revealed by Auckland Airport highlight the real numbers of those coming and going, and from where they came.

During the event, Auckland Airport managed nearly 880,000 international arrivals and departures, an increase of 44,000 over the same period in 2010. Overall, international visitor numbers in October this year were up 18.8 per cent.

Looking at the country of last residence compared to 2010, the data shows a colossal spike in visitors from France (708 per cent), the United Kingdom (121 per cent) and Canada (59 per cent) in September, while October growth shows South Africans arriving in force (369 per cent) and an increase of more than 15,000 visitors from Australia (31 per cent).

Auckland Airport Chief Executive Simon Moutter says the increase in international visitors has a strong flow on effect for New Zealand, and has contributed to the marketing of New Zealand on a grand scale.

“The Rugby World Cup 2011 had a huge impact on New Zealand through increased revenue and exposure, but it’s not until you see a breakdown of the nationalities that came to our country that you realise the true benefit of hosting such a global tournament. To see the influx in visitors from some major tourism markets as far away as France, the UK and Canada is extremely pleasing.”

Raising the excitement level to fever pitch, on 23 October, the day of the All Blacks vs France final, the airport accommodated a staggering 21 corporate jets.

Mr Moutter adds the effort from the whole airport community was monumental and visitors suffered no delays during this busy time.

"It was great to see years of planning pay off – nobody 'dropped the ball' even though we were dealing with substantially increased numbers. On 15 October, the date of the first semi-final, we processed 13,000 arriving international passengers, an increase of 36 per cent over 2010. Following our smashing victory in the final against France, on 24 October we saw 15,000 departing passengers in a 24 hour period – a new record!"

In preparing for the anticipated influx and in line with its work to remain in the Top 10 best airports globally, Auckland Airport conducted a major revamp of the International Terminal arrival experience to handle the huge demand, and made changes to both domestic and international terminal forecourts.