More than 250,000 music lovers from around New Zealand rocked RFA’s stadiums this summer, boosting the Auckland economy with a visitor spend of $29.5 million and a contribution to regional GDP of $19.5 million.
Multi-Grammy Award-winner Sir Paul McCartney, legendary rockers Foo Fighters and enigmatic Aussie songstress Sia were the headline acts at major concerts during December, January and February at Mt Smart Stadium; while Brit pop star Ed Sheeran broke the stadium’s previous ticket sales record set by Adele, when he played three sold-out shows in March.
Also in March, superstar icon Grace Jones, Beck, and The Avalanches were joined by local favourites including Head Like a Hole, The D4, Katchafire and Aaradhna at Auckland City Limits. Says Chris Brooks, RFA Chief Executive,
Securing and staging these large-scale touring concerts for Auckland every year is paying huge dividends – over the past five years, our stadium concerts have generated more than $133 million in visitor spend.
Independent research shows that the four big acts at Mt Smart attracted more than 126,000 visitors from outside Auckland, generating 138,700 visitor nights.
Since 2014, RFA’s summer stadium concerts have contgribution $44 million to regional GDP, $133 million in vistior spend and 660,000 visitor nights.
