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Speaker 1: Right. The sky City International Convention Center in Auckland has

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Speaker 1: been delayed again, with the opening date now set February

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Speaker 1: twenty twenty six. Sky City have cited delays with Fletcher

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Speaker 1: Building as the reason behind the pushback, with Fletcher Building

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Speaker 1: saying last June that it was aiming to finish the

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Speaker 1: building by the end of the year. Calum Mallett is

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Speaker 1: sky City's chief operating officer, and he is with us.

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Speaker 1: Good evening, good evening. Hey, can you just confirm to

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Speaker 1: me when will the convention center be completed and when

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Speaker 1: will it be handed over to you? And when will

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Speaker 1: it open? Hopefully sure?

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Speaker 2: So, Flector Building are targeting at June twenty twenty five

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Speaker 2: dates for their completion. We will then take over the

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Speaker 2: building and commissioning and operational reading this work that will

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Speaker 2: take a few months, and so for that reason we

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Speaker 2: think it's been prudent to announce a February twenty twenty

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Speaker 2: six opening, which allows for some contingency and really importantly

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Speaker 2: gives certainty not just to our team, but most importantly

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Speaker 2: to our customers, so they can have certainty for their

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Speaker 2: booknds moving into twenty twenty six.

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Speaker 1: Okay, got you that timeline all makes a lot of sense. Now,

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Speaker 1: are you concerned that the completion may not be done

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Speaker 1: by June this year?

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Speaker 2: Look, there's no question it's been a challenging project and

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Speaker 2: has continued to be delayed. But we know that Fletchers

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Speaker 2: believe that June is a date that they will absolutely

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Speaker 2: have the building finished by. And as said, you know,

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Speaker 2: we've got some contingency to make sure that if it

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Speaker 2: goes a little later than that, we still have the

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Speaker 2: appropriate time we need to do the commission and operational

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Speaker 2: work for that February twenty six opening.

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Speaker 1: These completion dates and lightning dates are already much later

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Speaker 1: than what you had expected, Is Fletcher the sole reason

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Speaker 1: for this delay?

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Speaker 2: Oh? Look, it's certainly been a challenging build francester And

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Speaker 2: for Fletchers and ourselves still working very productively on making

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Speaker 2: sure that the building is finished, but that also importantly

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Speaker 2: that it's finished for the absolute standard that we are

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Speaker 2: in New Zealand should expect. You know, from February twenty six.

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Speaker 2: This is going to be an amazing building for Auckland

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Speaker 2: and for New Zealand. So welcome over thirty thousand international

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Speaker 2: delegates every year and about half a million visitors from

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Speaker 2: around New Zealand and Auckland every year. It's going to

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Speaker 2: be a really important part. We hope and expect for

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Speaker 2: the community to have graduations and to comfort dinners for

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Speaker 2: conferences and to watch the others their shows, et cetera. So,

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Speaker 2: you know, working with Fletchers to deliver that bolly and

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Speaker 2: then making sure that we do the commissioning appropriately to

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Speaker 2: give the very first guests the best experience we can

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Speaker 2: is paramount to us.

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Speaker 1: So this isn't turning into a blame game. You are

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Speaker 1: looking forward with positivity to getting it open and getting

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Speaker 1: things in action.

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Speaker 2: Yeah. Look, there's no question that is later than we

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Speaker 2: and we'd hope anyone would have liked. But we're really

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Speaker 2: excited today to be able to talk about the February

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Speaker 2: twenty sixth date and actually give a strong date for

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Speaker 2: our customers and for the world to know about so

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Speaker 2: that we can attract the magnitude and importance of conferences

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Speaker 2: that we want to New Zealand. So we're really excited

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Speaker 2: about that.

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Speaker 1: And look, callum, just before we do look forward, is

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Speaker 1: this costing you with the delays? Have you missed out

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Speaker 1: on key events just because how late it has been opening.

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Speaker 2: Absolutely no question, and there were some events later in

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Speaker 2: this year that, unfortunately we have needed to communicate to

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Speaker 2: those organizers that we can no longer to their conferences

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Speaker 2: and for that we're really sorry and disappointed. But absolutely

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Speaker 2: it's cost Sky City revenue, but it's also cost the

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Speaker 2: wider tourism industry, whether it's airlines, whether it's hoshels, whether

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Speaker 2: it's event organizers considerably as well. And you know, it's

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Speaker 2: no secret obviously that the New Zealand tourism industry has

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Speaker 2: got its challenges. At the moment, we're only back to

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Speaker 2: eighty five percent of international tourists that we were pre

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Speaker 2: codd and certainly business events across the country and certainly

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Speaker 2: the ends that I See City a really important driver

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Speaker 2: of that, and you know, we look forward, you know,

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Speaker 2: with real hope of what part we can play in that,

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Speaker 2: and you know, the recent change of Tourism Minister and

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Speaker 2: the government's new approach around or really focused approach around

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Speaker 2: growth absolutely marries perfectly with what we're wanting to achieve

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Speaker 2: at the ends of I See See So yes, it

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Speaker 2: has cost us revenue, but equally we're excited about what

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Speaker 2: it will offer us come twenty two.

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Speaker 1: Well, I think a lot of Aucklanders will be behind

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Speaker 1: you as well, because we've had to be very patient

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Speaker 1: with the changes to roading, and you know, while it's

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Speaker 1: been built, you know, there's been there's been a lot

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Speaker 1: on the city as well, So it's going to be

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Speaker 1: wonderful to have that area kind of opened up and complete. Again.

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Speaker 1: Are you managing to attract some big key events to

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Speaker 1: the convention center?

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Speaker 2: Yes, absolutely, we've had a sales team in case for

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Speaker 2: some time. They sell globally and you know, we're really

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Speaker 2: excited about the pipeline of large scale international conferences that

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Speaker 2: we're managing to attract for twenty six, twenty seven and

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Speaker 2: twenty eight. They will have a significant economic attack on

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Speaker 2: New Zealand upward to one hundred million dollars a year.

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Speaker 2: Throughout the industry is associated in and around the ends

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Speaker 2: that ICEC and associated with tourism. So where as I

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Speaker 2: said before, it's the airlines, hotels, it's transport, it's certain

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Speaker 2: beverage suppliers. It's going to have a big impact on

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Speaker 2: a good week there. We expect to have fifteen to

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Speaker 2: twenty thousand visitors going through the ends that ICEEC and

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Speaker 2: multitude of events, both conferences and theater space. It's got

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Speaker 2: an almost three thousand tax theater, multiple binners, etc. So

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Speaker 2: it's going to have a big impact. Yes, we appreciate

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Speaker 2: everybody's patients with some of the construction that's gone on,

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Speaker 2: and we're super excited about being able to showcase the

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Speaker 2: end product to everybody where. Hopefully when people walk through

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Speaker 2: that center and go and have events at the center,

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Speaker 2: they will all think, like we do, that the weight

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Speaker 2: will be worth it.

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Speaker 1: Callum. Just finally, you mentioned the difficulty of the tourism

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Speaker 1: industry has been dealing with is it good to have

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Speaker 1: the Horizon Hotel open? What's the demand being.

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Speaker 2: Like, Look, we're delighted to have the Horizon Hotel open.

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Speaker 2: It is obviously a really important piece of the end

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Speaker 2: that ICEE see puzzle for us across the precinct. Feedback

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Speaker 2: from customers has been really good. Demand has been good.

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Speaker 2: Albeit as we've discos Francisco, the tourism industry and the

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Speaker 2: supply of hotels in Auckland, we've got a number of

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Speaker 2: new properties have opened across the last five years, which

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Speaker 2: is fantastic media. It's a lot to certainly it's a

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Speaker 2: challenge at the moment with relatively low occupancy and ADRs

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Speaker 2: in the industry, and it's things like the end and

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Speaker 2: I see s like the government wanting growth, wanting to

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Speaker 2: bring in more major events that the hotel industry certainly

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Speaker 2: needs at the moment, and so we're looking forward to

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Speaker 2: being able to provide that important preced infrastructure and February

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Speaker 2: next year.

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Speaker 1: Callum mallach, thank you very much for your time. Calum's

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Speaker 1: sky City's chief operating officer. For more from Hither Duplessy

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Speaker 1: Alan Drive, listen live to news talks.

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Speaker 2: It'd be from four pm weekdays, or follow the podcast

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