Millennium Major Events

Tourism Minister Murray McCully has tonight launched the first in a series of Millennium major events, welcoming 32 international golf pairs and dozens of journalists to the World Cup of Golf at an opening function at Gulf Harbour, north of Auckland.

Mr McCully says the World Cup of Golf, like the America's Cup and the APEC summit, will have significant flow-on benefits for the whole of New Zealand because of the international media profile of the event.

"Extended TV coverage of the event will be beamed via satellite to more than 200 million homes in 138 countries around the world, and each day's coverage will start with a specially-made one minute New Zealand destination feature," said Mr McCully.

"Those providing coverage include Fox Sports America, Star Sports, CNBC Asia and CNBC Europe and they broadcast in all of our key target markets, building an awareness of New Zealand as a tourism destination that every Regional Tourism Organisation will be able to leverage off.

"This awareness will only be reinforced by New Zealand hosting other fixtures which are significant international events in their own right, such as the America's Cup and the APEC summit.