Auckland to host 18th Australasian Tunnelling Conference in 2022

Auckland has secured another business event for 2022, with the largest tunnelling conference in Australasia coming our way.

The state-of-the-art New Zealand International Convention Centre (NZICC) will host the conference, which is scheduled for October 2022 and set to attract more than 750 delegates from around the world.

The estimated economic benefit to Auckland is over $1.1million, including a total of 2,950 visitor nights.

The New Zealand Tunnelling Society (NZTS) worked with Auckland Convention Bureau (ACB), a division of Auckland Tourism, Events and Economic Development (ATEED), to secure the winning bid with support from Tourism New Zealand.

NZTS Chair Bill Newns says Auckland’s significant tunnelling projects, the City Rail Link and Watercare's Central Interceptor, which will be at their peak of construction in 2022, played a large role in securing the conference.

“The bigger New Zealand tunnelling projects are internationally significant and will feature strongly at the conference, giving New Zealand a great opportunity to showcase our infrastructure as well as providing a forum for engineers and industry experts to share the latest developments and insights from around the region in underground space development and utilisation, tunnel design and construction challenges, innovations and emerging trends.”

The theme for the 2022 conference is ‘Smarter, Safer, Kaitiakitanga’, which links to the importance of safety, wellbeing, guardianship and continual improvement within the underground construction sector.

Auckland’s appeal as a great destination, and the impressive NZICC, also had an impact. “We made a compelling case for Auckland especially given we have a brand-new, world-class conferencing facility in our midst,” Newns added.

Head of ACB Anna Hayward said: “It’s fantastic to see Auckland secure such a significant Australasian conference that will attract a high-calibre of international experts and will further cement our position as a leading business events destination.

“The NZICC will be one of the first facilities of its kind in Asia Pacific to be carbon neutral, so it is a fitting venue, especially given the theme of the conference,” Hayward added.

Tourism New Zealand’s Global Manager of Business Events Anna Fennessy said: “The benefits of hosting conferences like this one extend far beyond the economic value. The knowledge sharing and global connections that will occur as a result of this conference will benefit New Zealand and our future infrastructure developments for years to come.”

NOTES TO EDITOR

• AUCKLAND CONVENTION BUREAU is part of ATEED – Auckland’s economic development agency, and an Auckland Council Controlled Organisation.

• Destination AKL 2025 strategy was released in 2018 and is a unifying vision for Auckland’s visitor economy, providing direction, leadership and guardianship for the region as the gateway to New Zealand and as a stand-alone visitor destination.

• The New Zealand International Convention Centre (NZICC) in Auckland will be operating as a carbon neutral venue, the only one of its kind in Asia Pacific. More information on NZICC can be found at nzicc.co.nz

• Auckland ranked third in Australasia by the World Travel Awards in 2017 for attracting business events

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