Media release

7 November 2013

Auckland makes top three in global Sport City Awards

Auckland has been named in the top three sporting cities in the world for the second year in a row at the 2013 International Sports Event Management (ISEM) Awards.

Auckland took third place in the prestigious Sport City Award, which was announced this morning (New Zealand time) at a black tie event at the Cumberland Hotel in London.

Held annually and now in its seventh year, the ISEM Awards are the only international awards to recognise excellence in the global sports event management industry.

Auckland placed third in the field of ten behind London and Dubai and beat other major events cities including Sydney, Istanbul, Manchester, Kazan, Dusseldorf, Gothenburg and Herning.

Auckland Tourism, Events and Economic Development (ATEED) General Manager Destination & Marketing, Rachael Carroll, says it’s an excellent result.

“This reinforces that Auckland is a true global city. To place third is testament to our consistent approach to successfully delivering major sporting events. We’ve also beaten one of our main competitors in Australia, which is great,” she says.

ATEED’s award entry highlighted that Auckland is a city transformed by sport, with the hosting of major events intertwined with the region’s development.

“Auckland has developed a global reputation as an event-friendly host and has grown a diverse portfolio of major events. Hosting these events is helping to rejuvenate our city, fast tracking improvements to public spaces, increasing the use of public transport, winning the hearts of visitors and Aucklanders – and paving the way towards making Auckland the world’s most liveable city,” says Ms Carroll.

During the 2012/13 awards timeframe Auckland hosted the ITU World Triathlon Grand Final, ATP Heineken Open and WTA ASB Classic, ITM 400 Auckland V8 Supercars, UCI BMX World Championship and the ISF World Softball Championships, among others.

This Sport City Award follows UK-based Sport Business Group’s global report naming Auckland ‘the most ambitious city in the Asia Pacific region’, crediting the city with hosting the widest variety of events. It also comes hot on the heels of Auckland being named one of the top 10 cities in the world to visit in Lonely Planet’s Best in Travel 2014.

ATEED’s 2013/14 major events portfolio includes 35 events. The highly successful 2012/2013 major events season, brought in a return on investment of $39.1 million and generated 290,000 visitor nights.

Ends

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