Kia ora JT,

I acknowledge your requesting under the Official Information Act " the total costs to the taxpayer of having Rod Stewart sing "Sailing" for the America's Cup."

We received your request on 15 March. We will endeavor to respond to your request as soon as possible and in any event no later than 14 April, being 20 working days after the day your request was received. If we are unable to respond to your request by then, we will notify you of an extension of that timeframe.

If you have any queries, please feel free to contact me via this website. If any additional factors come to light which are relevant to your request, please do not hesitate to contact us so that these can be taken into account.

Naku noa,nā

Angela Gore
Government Relations Advisor
Tourism New Zealand

On 15 March 2021, you requested under the Official Information Act, “the total costs to the taxpayer of having Rod Stewart sing "Sailing" for the America's Cup.”

Tourism New Zealand promotes domestic travel to Kiwis through the Do Something New, New Zealand campaign. We also continue to promote New Zealand to our key international markets in preparation for borders reopening in the future.

To maximise the impact to the New Zealand economy of hosting the America’s Cup, businesses and government agencies are running a programme of events and activities to lift New Zealand’s profile internationally. Rock the Dock was part of our leveraging activity that brought New Zealanders together in a show of support for the teams and their fans around the world who are unable to be here.

Sir Rod Stewart was chosen for this event as he has global appeal and a strong connection to New Zealand with two of his children born here he’s always felt like New Zealand was a second home.

We are withholding the amount of Sir Rod’s fee for this event under section 9(2)(b)(ii) as it is commercial in confidence and releasing this information could jeopardise his future contract negotiations.

The total cost of hosting the event was $918,000. This includes Sir Rod’s fees, marketing and promotional budget and production costs associated with the event.

You have the right to seek an investigation and review by the Ombudsman of this decision. Information about how to make a complaint is available at www.ombudsman.parliament.nz or freephone 0800 802 602.

Naku noa, nā

Tony Rogers
Director, Marketing
Tourism New Zealand