Rugby World Cup 2011 Draw and Venues

The Rugby World Cup 2011 draw is good news for tourism in New Zealand covering almost the length of the country, with games taking place as far north as Whangarei and as far south as Invercargill.

There are more match venues for the 2011 event than in either Australia in 2003 or France in 2007. This reflects the New Zealand Rugby Union’s approach that New Zealand is a ‘Stadium of Four Million’, their tagline to encourage all New Zealanders to support the event.

The IRB Rugby World Cup is the third-largest sports event in the world. The inaugural tournament took place in 1987 and it is held every four years. The 2011 tournament will take place in New Zealand from 9 September to 23 October 2011.

Thirteen venues in total were chosen for games with at least two games being played in every venue.

Auckland (Eden Park), Wellington and Christchurch have been allocated five pool matches each while North Shore, Hamilton, New Plymouth, Rotorua and Dunedin will each host three matches. Whangarei, Nelson, Palmerston North, Napier and Invercargill will host two matches.

While the games take place in 13 set locations, there is plenty of opportunity for other towns and regions to benefit from the RWC 2011 as visitors travel around the country to get to the venues, and explore the rest of the country.

Tourism New Zealand is working to encourage rugby fans to come to New Zealand, then when they are here, to see as much of the country as possible. It already has a number of marketing initiatives in place, the key one being the ‘Front Row Rugby Club’.

This club is part of a five-year plan, initiated in 2006, to build a worldwide community of fans it will encourage to travel to the 2011 Rugby World Cup in New Zealand.

In 2007 Kiwis travelling to the Rugby World Cup in France were recruited to be ambassadors for the 2011 Cup, meeting and encouraging those they met to come to New Zealand in 2011.

Fans also have their own official virtual "clubrooms" where they can share stories and join in the world's largest team photo by adding their image. As 2011 draws near, fans will be sent specific information about the towns they will be visiting.

From March 2009, Tana Umaga and Petra Bagust began hosting online 'roadtrips', showing club members how they can tour the country between games.

In the build up to 2011, a Giant Rugby Ball venue is being used, with great PR success for New Zealand. So far the Giant Rugby Ball has featured during the 2007 Rugby World Cup in Paris, and in London to coincide with the All Blacks Rugby Tour in November 2008.

www.tourismnewzealand.com
www.rugbyworldcup.com