Rugby World Cup Runneth Over

The RWC 2011 not only ended in a fantastic result for the All Blacks, but a fantastic event for New Zealand. The tournament brought tens of thousands of visitors to New Zealand who might otherwise not have come, and it has given us unprecedented international exposure.

On Friday 21 October Statistics New Zealand revealed that from July to the end of September 80,000 visitors arrived in New Zealand specifically for the Rugby World Cup. That helped swell our September figures by 26% over the same month last year, and we can expect to see a bigger number when the conclusive figures come out in November.

Tourism New Zealand's involvement in spreading the message about visiting New Zealand as the host nation of RWC 2011 goes back to 2007, with the deployment of the Giant Rugby Ball in Paris, London, Tokyo and Sydney. Following its successful run at Queen's Wharf the Giant Rugby Ball has now been experienced by more than 160,000, including its deployment overseas.

Rugby fever reached epidemic level in the final few weeks, but off the pitches the hospitality was intense from the start, and the welcome players and supporters got all from around New Zealand was fantastic.

Providing information and support to international media visiting for the Tournament made a considerable impact on the 2000-plus journalists here for the tournament. Many didn't just send back rugby commentary and interviews - they also wrote or broadcast about New Zealand in general and about their personal experiences here.

Rugby New Zealand 2011 CEO Martin Snedden said: "The tournament has really lifted the mood of the nation. We've had a really difficult year and the tournament has given us all a chance to celebrate, relax a little and focus on something completely different.

"What's also been fantastic has been seeing New Zealand become a nation of four million great hosts. We promised that very thing when we won the bid so to see it come alive has been really satisfying. So many of us got dressed up, painted faces, supported other teams and looked after our visitors. I am sure that has helped our visitors leave with happy memories of their time here and that's will be invaluable in terms of spreading the word about our great country."

Tourism New Zealand continues to attract international visitors to New Zealand over the spring and summer months. This includes work in 100% Pure You arena, on newzealand.com, and a range of targeted marketing and PR activity.

For more information about the marketing being undertaken by market check out the corporate website tourismnewzealand.com, click on Markets & Stats and choose the market you are interested in. Once you are in the market information click on 'marketing activity' for more detail about Tourism New Zealand's campaign and PR work.