As published in The New Zealand Herald, Saturday 21 February 2026
On Valentine’s night, heading into the city for dinner, there was something noticeably different in the air.
The streets felt busy. Restaurants were full. Conversation spilled onto footpaths. It wasn’t just couples marking the occasion, it felt broader than that. A few nights later, at a Monday board dinner, the same pattern repeated. Tables were booked out. Hospitality operators weren’t trimming hours or slashing prices to fill tables, they were trading confidently and the room showed it.
After several years of subdued foot traffic, business closures and cautious spending, that shift feels significant.
It was against that backdrop that I read a LinkedIn post from Tim Alpe following the opening of the New Zealand International Convention Centre.
“This morning, I attended the opening of the stunning new International Convention Centre… It’s not just an architectural statement; it’s a signal of intent… A strong Auckland means a strong New Zealand… I’m choosing to see the glass as half full and can’t wait until it’s overflowing.”
It struck me because it felt measured and because it aligned with something I’ve started to notice myself. Auckland feels like it is building momentum again.
For the past five years, the dominant tone has been different. Lockdowns. Empty CBDs. Crime headlines. Hospitality closures. Rising costs. Ramraids. A steady narrative of decline. Even when good things were happening, they were often drowned out by what wasn’t working.
That narrative shapes behaviour. It influences investment decisions. It affects whether young people see a future here and whether talent looks towards us or away from us.
Cities don’t decline or rise by accident. They change according to what we build and what we believe.
Choosing confidence
The NZICC is a $750 million investment in the heart of Auckland and is expected to attract around 33,000 international visitors annually, generating more than $90 million in new economic activity each year.
But beyond the numbers, it represents intent.
The average international convention delegate stays eight days and spends around $645 per night, roughly $3,729 per trip. They book quality accommodation, dine midweek, host clients and often return.
And while we sometimes contrast this with the backpacker traveller, many international relationships with New Zealand begin that way, with a working holiday visa and curiosity. Those early visitors often become future professionals, investors and returning families. We don’t replace one with the other. We welcome people back through different stages of their lives and careers.
For hospitality operators still recovering, predictable midweek demand is stability. It gives business owners confidence to hire and expand.
The convention centre is not just a building. It is an expanded economic capacity and a psychological shift.
Unlocking what we already have
Recent planning reforms at Eden Park have removed constraints that limited how often and how flexibly the stadium could host major events. That change signals that we are prepared to fully use the assets we already have.
Independent analysis suggests Eden Park currently contributes around $37 million annually to Auckland’s GDP. Under fuller utilisation, that could exceed $100 million per year.
In 2027, Auckland will host its first-ever State of Origin match. Beyond the spectacle, that means tens of thousands of visitors, hotels filled, restaurants booked and Auckland broadcast across Australasia.
For years, we have spoken about potential. These changes convert potential into activity.
Connecting the city again
The City Rail Link, due to open in the second half of 2026, will shift Auckland’s rail network from a dead-end system to a through-running metro-style service. Two new underground stations will sit in the heart of the CBD.
The impact is not just about shorter travel times. It is about reconnecting the city.
A convention centre can host global delegates. A stadium can host world-class events. But those assets thrive only if people can move easily and reliably into the city centre.
Infrastructure is optimism made physical.
Talent is choosing New Zealand
We often speak about brain drain. But inside our own business, we are seeing something else.
This week I sat down with one of our newest hires from Europe. His connection to New Zealand began years ago with a backpack. He visited three times and has now relocated his entire family here.
Over the past 12 months, Tend has recorded its highest level of international recruitment to date. Highly skilled clinicians and engineers are choosing to move to New Zealand not because they have to, but because they want to.
These professionals are globally mobile. When they choose to come here, it reflects confidence, in infrastructure, in opportunity and in the country’s direction. It reflects a belief that New Zealand offers not just a lifestyle for today, but a future worth investing in for their children.
While many arrive via Auckland, they contribute across communities nationwide. Economic growth is not just about visitor spend. It is about attracting capability and belief.
There are also early signs of a shift at a macro level. A new chapter began at the Reserve Bank this week under Governor Anna Breman, and the tone felt clearer and more grounded. She acknowledged that the recovery is still early and that many families are still carrying the weight of past inflation and rate rises.
That matters. Growth comes from confidence in economic settings as well as infrastructure. When businesses believe conditions are steady, they invest. When families feel stability returning, they spend.
From negativity to growth
I came to Auckland more than 20 years ago with a backpack. I remember thinking it was one of the most naturally beautiful cities in the world, a harbour framed by volcanic cones, beaches within reach, bush and islands minutes away.
That hasn’t changed. What has fluctuated is confidence.
Natural advantage only carries you so far. It must be backed by investment and intent.
The NZICC, Eden Park reforms and the City Rail Link are signals. They say we are prepared to compete and prepared to believe in our future.
Momentum isn’t about ignoring challenges. We still need stronger job creation, real pathways for young people and a city that gives our kids reasons to build their futures here rather than across the ditch.
But it is also about choosing the story we amplify. Restaurants busy midweek. Major events confirmed. Infrastructure opening. Talent arriving. More stable economic settings underpinning it all.
Now it’s on all of us to lean in and back the investments being made in this city and this country. Comebacks aren’t announced. They’re built, one project, one event, one decision at a time.
And something has shifted.
Auckland is no longer talking only about recovery. It is talking about growth.
And growth begins with belief.
