New Zealand economy banking on Rugby World Cup

In the Viaduct neighbourhood of Auckland the official Rugby World Cup store is already decked with T-shirts sporting the colours of the various teams, but for the time being shoppers prefer anything connected to the home side, the All Blacks . With just weeks to go before the start of the tournament (9 September to 23 October), the excitement in New Zealand is already palpable. All over Auckland, billboards are publicising the event and newspapers have started a countdown to the opening ceremony. Hotels are already fully booked and local people are starting to rent out their homes. It will be the biggest sporting event ever organised by this small country (population 4.4 million), with 85,000 visitors expected and the prospect of welcome earnings after the 2008 recession. The governor of the Reserve Bank, Alan Bollard, has forecast that the competition could bring in $600m. The main beneficiary will be Auckland, the country's biggest city, which will be hosting the semi-finals and final. Sales of tickets, managed by the Rugby New Zealand organisation, should earn $228m. One estimate suggests the whole operation could cost $1bn, almost half of which has been spent on refurbishing the stadiums. Such a lavish outlay is hard to swallow as the country struggles to maintain growth. The earthquake that devastated Christchurch in February could knock 1.5 points off growth this year. But others highlight the long-term benefits. "This will give our country an international image it would never have achieved otherwise," says Rugby World Cup boss Martin Snedden. This article originally appeared in Le Monde