citymedia.co.nz

The 2011 Rugby World Cup may have been considered a success in New Zealand's largest city Auckland but it held few benefits for businesses, a city council document released on Wednesday said. An evaluation of the impact of World Cup in Auckland, which hosted a third of the games including the opening and the final, bought forth the following revelations.

The document showed that despite an inflow of 100,000 visitors, the spin-offs were not evenly spread. Fewer than ten per-cent of Auckland businesses believed the event, held over six weeks in September and October, had benefited them, according to the document. "With 107 000 additional visitors in Auckland over the period, the low reporting of positive effects by business could be a reflection of an uneven spread of benefits," it said. Auckland Council Chief Executive Doug McKay said the economic benefits were always going to be important and there were areas where there were opportunities for improvement. "The document shows numerous Auckland businesses don't think they have benefited directly from RWC 2011 and it suggests that is because benefits have not been spread evenly," they said. "We need to understand better - the learning's here for next time."

McKay said the document did not include full economic impacts and other financial knowledge which was not scheduled for release until next April.

The World Cup had a chaotic opening which saw thousands of people stranded on trains and the party central zone in downtown Auckland overcrowded, but the document concluded that overall the event was a success.