Reason 4: a venue in the centre of New Zealand’s biggest city

The Vector Arena is a stunning indoor sports stadium that opened in late March 2007. Its first major event is two sold out concerts by the Red Hot Chilli Peppers in April. The venue will be used for sports events, musical events and cultural events.

The Vector Arena has retractable seating to increase the floor area, and seating for between 5,000 and 12,000 people. It also has an innovative curtain system to reduce visible seating and create a more intimate atmosphere.

There are 4,000 hotel beds within 2km of the venue, and it is an easy walk from the heart of Auckland City’s shopping and business district, as well as the ferry terminal and bus and train terminals.

Members of our bid team visited the venue twice in the past month, and had a good look around its facilities. The main arena will easily fit nine standard rings, with a warm-up area behind a heavy blackout curtain. Seating is close to the action, with a great view from all around the stadium.

Spectators entering the venue are quickly separated from competitors and umpires, walking upstairs to their seats past food and merchandise stands.

The umpires meeting room is 20m from the main arena, so there is no risk of getting lost! There are 12 small changing rooms, and two larger changing rooms (which may be suitable for warm-up areas for up to 20 people each).

The Vector Arena has a two level café, the ground floor of which is perfect for Congress, so everything can be hosted in the same place.

As His Worship Dick Hubbard, Mayor of Auckland, said, “The Vector Arena is the perfect venue to host the ITF Taekwon-Do World Championships in 2011.”