Latest / Early Edition with Ryan Bridge / Viv Beck: Heart of the City Chief Executive supports a bed tax as a way to fund these events which bring people to Auckland

Transcript

Viv Beck: Heart of the City Chief Executive supports a bed tax as a way to fund these events which bring people to Auckland · Early Edition with Ryan Bridge

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Now Walkland hotels are getting a major cash hit from
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: big events. During the weekend when Luke Comb's The Country
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: Singer and sale GP were in town, hotels made it
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: an extra five million dollars, meaning that they filled an
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: extra eight thousand rooms over four days. So how did
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: the CEO see heart did the city CEO Vivic joins in? Hello, viv,
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: nice to talk, so nice to see you. It just
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: goes to show just how much of an impact these
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: big things have.
• 0:29
  Speaker 2: They really do. I mean, we see it. You know,
• 0:32
  Speaker 2: we sort with Pink last year, Coldplay and Pearl Jam,
• 0:36
  Speaker 2: sal GP. They make a huge impact. I mean big
• 0:39
  Speaker 2: and small events attract people. But when you get a
• 0:41
  Speaker 2: really big one and the hotels the fall and the
• 0:43
  Speaker 2: restaurants a fall and the place is buzzing. That's just
• 0:46
  Speaker 2: really what you need to see.
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: And whose responsibility is it to keep these big events
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: coming to all of our cities.
• 0:53
  Speaker 2: Well, it depends what they are. I mean, you know,
• 0:56
  Speaker 2: where there are public benefits, I think there is a
• 0:58
  Speaker 2: rationale for public something, but understand and that's tight and sensitive,
• 1:03
  Speaker 2: So you know, that's that's that's the question. Really, the
• 1:06
  Speaker 2: funding is a challenge with some of the bigger events.
• 1:09
  Speaker 2: But the reality is, I think there's a strong recognition
• 1:13
  Speaker 2: that events have a big impact, and if there are
• 1:15
  Speaker 2: public benefits, I think there is a rationales have public
• 1:18
  Speaker 2: money in it.
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: I think the America's Cup debate has colored those sorts
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: of comments because that required sort of the sort of
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: money like two hundred million dollars from government and councils
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: to get the America's Cup here, because we have to
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: pay for their research costs as well as just hosting
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: the entire event. But most of the events that we're
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: talking about, the Cold Place as you say, and the
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: sal GP, they haven't been a big spend.
• 1:42
  Speaker 2: Well, a lot of them are privately thunder and pay
• 1:44
  Speaker 2: for them. But if you look at the America's Cup,
• 1:46
  Speaker 2: and if you look at the Barcelona results that have
• 1:48
  Speaker 2: come out, you know they say that's a two billion
• 1:50
  Speaker 2: dollar economic impact, maybe half a million unique visitors, one
• 1:55
  Speaker 2: hundred and fifty super yachts. You know that if you
• 1:57
  Speaker 2: think about America's Cup here, we've got the infrastructure, so
• 2:01
  Speaker 2: it's the economic benefit, the trade, the tourism, and really
• 2:05
  Speaker 2: the sort of huge reputation we have in that marine
• 2:10
  Speaker 2: innovation and technology space. There's a lot of benefits that
• 2:13
  Speaker 2: come from a large event like that, particularly when you've
• 2:16
  Speaker 2: got the infrastructure. So it is going to need a
• 2:19
  Speaker 2: private funding as well, but we're big supporters of getting
• 2:22
  Speaker 2: that back and having that in twenty twenty seven would
• 2:25
  Speaker 2: be a massive boost.
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: But it's true for everything we've been through, it's true
• 2:29
  Speaker 1: that our hotels are feast and famine because in between
• 2:31
  Speaker 1: these big events, we actually have low occupancy and they're
• 2:34
  Speaker 1: complaining about it. And meanwhile, the call came out over
• 2:36
  Speaker 1: the weekend for bed tax basically so that we've got
• 2:39
  Speaker 1: a fund that we can keep bringing events like this
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: to keep our hotels still. Do you support a bed tax?
• 2:44
  Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, we do. I mean that's something that actually
• 2:47
  Speaker 2: the industry generally seems to be supporting, and there's been
• 2:51
  Speaker 2: a call for some time now and actually needs to
• 2:53
  Speaker 2: get some urgency because one of the thoughts is that
• 2:57
  Speaker 2: that could be a way to contribute to the America's Cup.
• 3:00
  Speaker 2: But time is of the essence, and it is something
• 3:03
  Speaker 2: that a number of groups had been asking for for
• 3:05
  Speaker 2: some time, and there are various ways you can attract money,
• 3:08
  Speaker 2: but you know, the real is this is one that
• 3:10
  Speaker 2: seems to have more favored than certainly the last accommodation tax,
• 3:15
  Speaker 2: which really was unfair on the hotel sector. But this
• 3:19
  Speaker 2: one is a small percentage on top of a room
• 3:22
  Speaker 2: rate that would contribute to attracting these large events and
• 3:28
  Speaker 2: destination marketing.
• 3:30
  Speaker 1: V thank you for your time today, and in fact
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: I saw back the other day at an arts festival
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: event and that also was stimulating the economy.
• 3:38
  Speaker 2: For more from earlier edition with Ryan Bridge, listen live
• 3:41
  Speaker 2: to news Talks. It'd be from five am weekdays, or
• 3:44
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