The opening is later than anticipated, with New Zealand’s largest convention facility widely expected to open in 2025.
However, this morning SkyCity Entertainment Group, who own and will operate the facility, announced the NZICC will open in February 2026.
In a statement to the stock exchange, the delay to opening is attributed to the venue’s building contractor.
“The date is later than we’d hoped but offers contingency, as well as certainty for our customers,” said SkyCity’s CEO Jason Walbridge.
Once open, the NZICC will have 32,500m2 of gross floor space across 33 rooms. Located in the Auckland city centre, it is also connected to the new-build 303-room, five-star Horizon Hotel.
“The NZICC is a transformational project and we are thrilled to name the month we will open our doors,” said NZICC’s general manager Prue Daly.
“New Zealanders and visitors worldwide will be blown away by the innovation and thought that’s gone into every detail of the building – it’s configured for anything from a meeting for 20 people all the way up to an international conference for 3,000 delegates.”
“Following the contractor’s delivery of the completed building, we expect to commence commissioning and operational readiness activities in the second half of 2025.
“It’s a complex undertaking to get ready to open, including scaling up our number of employees and associated training to provide the ultimate customer experience,” she said.
It’s been a long road to opening for the convention centre. A major roof fire in 2019 near the end of construction massively set the opening timeline back, before the pandemic also had a huge impact on delivering the building.
In welcoming the opening announcement today, chief executive of industry body Business Events Industry Aoteroa, Lisa Hopkins, acknowledged the challenges that the venue had faced.
“It is impossible not to think about the history of this venue. When first conceived, the expectation for what it would deliver was enormous. The hurdles along the way have been heart-breaking, not just for the industry, but for the NZICC team who have been so dedicated,” she said.
“Now, instead of looking behind us, we can, with certainty, look forward, and it is fantastic to have the assurance that this time next year we will be welcoming a new era for Tāmaki Makaurau and New Zealand on the international stage.”
