AusLeisure

Shed 10 on Auckland's waterfront has been opened as a multi-use cruise ship and events facility, with Auckland Mayor Len Brown expecting the new facility to significantly grow earnings from cruise ship visits in the next five years.

Speaking at Shed 10's opening yesterday (6th August), Mayor Brown stated "last season, we welcomed 100 cruise ships to Auckland, bringing $116 million into the region's economy ... our biggest season ever and $2million over forecast.

"I'm confident we could grow that to as much as $150 million a year in the next five years, by creating the capacity for more and larger cruise ships, and by encouraging passengers and crew to spend more money off the boat that on.

"Each ship represents a $1 million for Auckland's economy. That's not just business for retailers in the CBD, it's market gardens in Pukekohe, vineyards in Waiheke and truck firms in South Auckland.

"Our challenge is to grow both the number of visitors, and the amount each visitor wants to spend in our economy. This demands investment in great facilities like Shed 10, but it also requires more work and great ideas, to get visitors off the boat and spending money and time in our region."

Welcoming more than 100 of the country's leading cruise and tourism representatives to the new facility, Mayor Brown said the opening of Shed 10 was a big step forward for Auckland's tourism industry, adding "Shed 10 is a signal to the industry that we want more visitors to our region, and we're prepared to invest to bring them here.

"We have a major programme of work underway to boost the income we can generate from cruise ship visitors.

"This includes improving linkages between the CBD and waterfront, improvements to our harbour edge, attracting high value retailers to the city and encouraging ships to stock up with our goods."

Shed 10, which has been transformed from a cargo shed into a state-of-the-art facility that will provide an excellent welcome experience for cruise passengers to Auckland. It will operate as Auckland's primary cruise terminal from the start of the 2013/14 cruise season on 11th October with the arrival of Carnival Cruise's Sea Princess. The facility incorporates a number of sustainability initiatives including the use of natural light and ventilation, the adaptive reuse of materials and refurbishment of existing components of the building along with the careful selection of environmentally friendly materials and finishes. This is complemented by the largest solar panel system of its kind in the country installed on the roof of Shed 10 which will supply power to the Shed and into the Auckland grid.

ATEED (Auckland Tourism, Events and Economic Development) Chief Executive Brett O'Riley says the new terminal will help enhance Auckland's excellent reputation as a cruise destination and contribute to the Auckland Visitor Plan goal of growing tourism's economic contribution to $6 billion by 2021.

"Auckland has already won several international awards for its handling of cruise ships and as a destination for passengers (and) we are confident that this new terminal will help us to improve on that performance and encourage more ships to come to Auckland and for passengers to make sure Auckland is top of their list of places to return to."

The refurbishment of Shed 10 was managed by Waterfront Auckland while ATEED will now be responsible for delivering the visitor experience in the facility.

For more information go to www.queens-wharf.co.nz/Queens-Wharf/Home/Shed-10.aspx 

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