Rugby World Cup provides $573 mln fillip to NZ economy, report shows

Tuesday 18th December 2012

Sports Minister Murray McCully has labelled last year's Rugby World Cup a success after independent research found it added $573 million to an otherwise tepid economy.

The sporting event added 0.34 percent to New Zealand's gross domestic product over the medium-term, or $573 million in 2007 dollar terms, and added some 7,840 part and full-time jobs, based on Market Economics modelling that considered the impact of spending leading up to the event.

The medium term impacts are "reasonably significant" and alongside less rigorous short-term modelling, show the tournament "provided an economic stimulus to the New Zealand economy in generally difficult economic times," the report said.

"Economically and socially, RWC 2011 has been great for New Zealand, with a marked boost in economic activity," McCully said in a statement. "However it is the intangible elements - the way the nation came together, and the pride we felt as hosts - that will define RWC 2011 for most New Zealanders in the future."

The tournament attracted some 133,000 visitors, who purchased 331,801 of the 1.48 million tickets sold. That was more than the 85,000 tourists expected by the Reserve Bank, which was picking a direct injection of $700 million into the economy before accounting for mitigating factors.

BusinessDesk.co.nz

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