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Press Release
Southern Lobby Group - Rugby World Cup 2011
The Local Bodies of Otago and Southland formed the Southern Lobby group to compile a bid for hosting games and teams in the region during the 2011 Rugby World Cup tournament. RNZ 2011 Ltd encouraged communities to work together in compiling their bids. Wanaka businessman Ian Farrant was appointed Chair of this group some 18 months ago. For the past 18 months the Local Bodies and their Tourism offices, and Rugby Unions have been developing our bid and ensuring compliance with RNZ 2011Ltd standards.
All bids for pool games and team hosting were to be presented to RNZ 2011 Ltd by October 31st 2008. The Southern Region achieved this deadline although anticipate there will be further negotiation before completing the allocation of teams and matches. Due to the LTCCP local body planning and budgeting process it is impossible for Local Bodies to fully commit financially that far out without going through this process.
The bid for the Southern Region illustrates the prouf rugby history and passion within the region and highlights the success of the recent All Black Springbok test match hosted in Dunedin. The bid has been made such that any games allocated to Dunedin could be hosted at either Carisbrook or a new stadium. The RWC selection panel is well aware of our hosting capabilities and Queenstown, Invercargill and Dunedin are potential hosts for teams during pool play. All regions have excellent training facilities and will ensure hosted teams experience the best of our region during their stay.
The bid is seeking to host six pool games to be shared among Dunedin, Invercargill and Queenstown. The games sought will be from the South Island pool plus one All Black pool match. The group is seeking games from the three identified tiers within the pool section of the tournament.
To assist in motivating the community to support the tournament there will be a number of festivals held around Otago and Southland during the pool stage of the event. This will encourage visitors to stay longer and enjoy the best on offer right across our region, not just in the proposed match hosting cities. The Lobby Group will launch a “Spin it wide” campaign to coordinate regional activity and to motivate public participation. “The economic benefit of keeping tourists in our region is a very important component of our bid” said Mr Farrant.
The bid recognises our smaller population and lack of corporate funding but positively sells our natural beauty, tourism attractions and our ability to work together. “If this tournament is to achieve its key philosophies of
- A platform for superb rugby
- A stadium of 4,000,000might just be a typo I think...
- A Rugby World Cup festival
- A uniquely New Zealand experience
Then the tournament organisers cannot ignore what we bring to the table” says Mr Farrant The announcement of match venues and dates is expected in mid 2009.
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