RWC 2011 Ticket Design Launched

• First tickets delivered to Wellington family today. Delivery to global Rugby fans over next three weeks
  
• Organisers remain confident ticket sales on track despite recent earthquake
  
• Rescheduled matches priority offer begins next week
  
• Final ticket sales phase to begin on July 4

Ticket Design & Delivery

Rugby fans from around the world will soon receive their tickets for Rugby World Cup 2011 matches.

The tickets have a uniquely New Zealand design and feature the Tournament’s mangopare and koru designs which represent the world coming together in union for Rugby’s greatest contest.

Rugby World Cup Limited (RWCL) Chairman Bernard Lapasset said: “This is a moment that truly brings Rugby World Cup 2011 to life for fans in New Zealand and around the world.”

“As we draw nearer to the 100 days to go milestone, there is no doubt that Rugby World Cup 2011 will be a successful tournament. All partners are committed to delivering an outstanding event - a tournament that New Zealanders and the global Rugby family will be proud of.”

Martin Snedden, CEO for Tournament Organiser Rugby New Zealand 2011 (RNZ 2011), said: “This is an exciting moment for fans, particularly those who purchased tickets a year ago. It is such a tangible sign that the Tournament is drawing near.”

New Zealand fans who opted to have their tickets delivered by mail or via Worldwide Partner DHL will receive their allocation over the next three Saturdays. Fans who opted to collect their tickets can do so from Ticketek outlets from May 30. Tickets for Dunedin matches will be delivered in July. Overseas fans who opted for delivery should receive their tickets by the end of the month.

“This is the biggest ticket sales campaign ever undertaken in New Zealand so it’s great to finally get to this point,” added Snedden.

Ticketing update for rescheduled matches

RNZ 2011 has now completed the first stage of the ticketing process implemented as a result of matches being relocated due to the Christchurch earthquake, the refund of ticket monies paid by affected purchasers.

Snedden said: “The devastating Christchurch earthquake has necessitated the transfer of eight matches in total, representing 130,000 tickets worth NZD20m. These tickets have now been refunded. Fans who bought those tickets will receive notification this Friday of their priority option to repurchase tickets at the new venues from next week.”

RNZ 2011 also announced that fans who had purchased ticket pool packs at the venues that have been allocated additional matches (Invercargill, Dunedin, Nelson, Wellington, North Harbour and Eden Park) will receive a special pre-sale offer in June to add those additional matches to their existing venue packs.

Organisers remain confident ticket sales on track

Prior to the refunds triggered by the Christchurch earthquake RNZ 2011 had sold a total of 919,000 tickets worth NZD189m (70% of the overall sales target of NZD268m). This is similar to the position at the same point in time for the previous Rugby World Cups in France and Australia.

Following the cancellation of ticket sales for the eight relocated matches, and the full refund to those affected ticket purchasers, the sales equation now stands at 790,000 ticket sold, such sales being worth NZD169m in total.

“Pre-Christchurch, ticket sales were exactly where we expected them to be. The transfer of matches so close to kick-off is unprecedented for any major event and has created significant additional challenges, but we remain confident that we should be able to recoup the bulk of the refunded sales within the next two months or so,” said Snedden.

“In addition, RNZ 2011 has the appropriate insurance arrangements in place for this type of incident."

Included in the current sales figures are 105,000 tickets so far committed to through the RWC 2011 Official Travel Agency (OTA) programme. This is up from the 70,000 tickets originally committed to by that programme and already outstrips the RWC 2003 total OTA sales of 85,000.

Snedden said: “Total OTA sales to date have been excellent and we remain hopeful that more sales within this programme will occur between now and tournament time. Overall, we still remain confident that, by Tournament-end, we will achieve our sales target of NZD268m and 1.35m tickets.”

Final sales phase begins July 4

RNZ 2011 also announced that the final sales period for RWC 2011 tickets starts pn Monday, July 4.

“For those who have always intended going to RWC 2011 but who haven’t yet purchased tickets, July 4 is a key date. From this day we will be putting on sale remaining tickets, either over the counter at Ticketek outlets, by phone or through the Tournament website www.rugbyworldcup.com," said Snedden.

“Tickets will remain on sale until they are gone and we urge fans to get in quick as this really will represent the last opportunity to secure a place ringside at Rugby’s biggest Tournament.”

“The final sales phase is traditionally a strong sales period for major events. As was the case in Australia in 2003 and France in 2007 we fully expect that to be the case in New Zealand.”

See Tables 1 & 2 below for full ticket sales to date summary

Visitor numbers/overall Australian sales remain strong

Snedden said: “In December we stated that, based on our public sales to date coupled with orders through the Official Travel Agency programme, we are expecting at least 85,000 fans from more than 100 countries would visit, 20,000 more than attended RWC 2003 in Australia.”

“We still remain confident that we will achieve at least that number. We have received no indication since the earthquake that those who had purchased tickets will now not be coming."

“Our biggest single market remains Australia and sales from there are strong overall.”

“Current public ticket sales and orders through the Official Travel Programme indicate visitor numbers of around 29,000 from Australia. This is well ahead of initial forecasts in 2005 (17,000) and Tourism Ministry forecasts of 2010 (21,300).”

See Tables 3 & 4 below for a full breakdown of visitor numbers

Notes to Editors

Tables 1 & 2: Ticketing – current state of play

*Post-refund and prior to priority sales opening for relocated matches and makes no allowance for insurance considerations.

Table 3: RWC 2011 visitor numbers - Australia

Table 4: RWC 2011 overall visitor numbers

Official Travel and Hospitality Programme: Fans wanting to guarantee their place at RWC 2011 can do so through the Official Travel & Hospitality Programme. A range of official RWC 2011 travel packages are available which include travel and accommodation options. Alternatively, companies wanting a complete RWC 2011 experience can choose from a number of exciting ticket-inclusive hospitality packages on offer, including the exclusive Eden Park Pavilion. For more information about the Official Travel & Hospitality Programme, please visit www.rth2011.com.

About Rugby New Zealand 2011 Ltd: Rugby New Zealand 2011 Ltd (RNZ 2011) was established in June 2006 and is the organisation responsible for the planning and delivery of Rugby World Cup 2011 in New Zealand on behalf of its shareholders, the New Zealand Rugby Union and the New Zealand Government. RNZ 2011 is governed by a Board of Directors. The New Zealand Rugby Union was selected as the Host Union for RWC 2011 by the International Rugby Board Council in November 2005.

About Rugby World Cup: The 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. In 2007, the sixth tournament was held in France and enjoyed a cumulative worldwide broadcast audience of more than four billion.

For the latest on RWC 2011 visit www.rugbyworldcup.com 

Further Information:

Dominic Rumbles, IRB Head of Communications, +353 868 520 826, email dominic.rumbles@irb.com