Prime Minister John Key is confident there won't be a problem selling tickets for next year's Rugby World Cup and says Kiwis will stump up for the big games despite the cost.Mr Key will launch the World Cup ticketing campaign in Auckland today, with Sport
Prime Minister John Key is confident there won't be a problem selling tickets for next year's Rugby World Cup and says Kiwis will stump up for the big games despite the cost.
Mr Key will launch the World Cup ticketing campaign in Auckland today, with Sports Minister Murray McCully.
"The advice I've had from the tourism industry is that they've upgraded their expectations for overseas visitors from 70,000 or 75,000 to 85,000, and I don't think you can rule out the numbers being higher than that," he said at his post-cabinet press conference yesterday.
"I think we will sell those tickets."
Mr Key said that except for the semi-finals and the final, ticket prices were about the same as for a test match.
"There's no question that the semi-finals and the final are far above what you would normally pay to attend a sporting fixture," he said.
"But they're also once in a lifetime opportunities for people. I think there will be plenty of New Zealanders, although they'll say `gosh that's a lot of money' will want to be part of the action.
"I think you'll see New Zealanders stump up and pay big ticket prices for the semi-finals and the final -- but they'll be under big competition from the overseas visitors who will be coming here."
