[asia-apec 484] Queenstown may host 2000 Apec meeting

[Gatt Watchdog]

>From The Press, 24/06/1966

Queenstown may host 2000 Apec meeting

by Martin van Beynen

Queenstown could find itself in the international spotlight in
2000 as the host of an Apec finance ministers' meeting.

Foreign Minister Don McKinnon, speaking to the Queenstown Rotary
Club yesterday, said the meeting, which had yet to be confirmed
was scheduled for April-May in 2000.

New Zealand takes over the Apec chair later this year and will
host the leaders' summit in Auckland in September next year.  It
will also be host to a series of preliminary meetings in
Wellington, Christchurch, Auckland, and Rotorua.

Mr McKinnon said New Zealand's Apec role would provide
unprecedented opportunities to boost the country's international
profile.

The Tourism Board believed the resulting media coverage was worth
$384 million in overseas advertising.

"To pull off this enormous task we are going to need the support
of every New Zealander," he said.

"It will be our hospitality and how we perform that our visitors
will remember."

The meetings next year were estimated to attract about 11,000
visitors and $64 million in revenue.  About 4000 delegates and
3000 journalists were expected at the leaders' summit, where 21
countries would gather representing more than half the world's
economic output.