Heidi Morton: WellingtonNZ Events Manager on the building anticipation ahead of Wrexham AFC's arrival

Wellington waits with open arms as anticipation builds for the arrival of Welsh football club Wrexham. 

Owned by Hollywood stars Ryan Reynolds and Rob Mac, Wrexham AFC is due to visit the capital for a friendly against the Phoenix on July 19. 

New data from Booking.com shows Wellington is the most searched NZ location on the site, with interest in accommodation up 600%. 

WellingtonNZ Events Manager Heidi Morton told Heather du Plessis-Allan the city offers a great opportunity for a unique location. 

She says there's still rooms and tickets available. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Some great news for Wellington anyone who loves football as well.
It looks like that Wrexham game later this month is
going to go off. Data from Booking dot Com show
searches for Wellington accommodation have jumped six hundred percent. Heidi
Moulton is Wellington in Z's Events and Experience as general
manager and with us.

Speaker 2 (00:14):
Hey Heidi, Hey, Heather, how are you?

Speaker 1 (00:16):
I'm very well How good is this looking to you?

Speaker 2 (00:19):
Oh? What are fantastic statistic, isn't it? I'm amazing to
see the number of people that are wanted to come
to Wellington. I mean, we've got two fantastic weekends coming ahead.
We've got to sold out All Blacks and Black Ferond's
double hitter this weekend and then rex On the following weekend.
So there's a lot going on in Wellington for people
to come and see.

Speaker 1 (00:39):
When was the last time that Wellington was the most
searched winter destination beating Queenstown?

Speaker 2 (00:46):
I know I had to double read that to make
sure that that was actually true, but yeah, I can't.
I can't remember when that was the case. But I think,
you know, Wellington offers a great opportunity for a unique
destination that's perhaps not you know, going for a week
in the snow, So that's fantastic.

Speaker 1 (01:05):
Yeah, you still get the cold day, you get that
in that lovely cold without having to actually deal with
the crispy white stuff. Do you reckon there are any
rooms available?

Speaker 2 (01:13):
Oh? Absolutely, there's still rooms available, and there's still tickets
available for the Wrexham match. So we're open for business
and we'd love to see some more people come for
that game.

Speaker 1 (01:23):
And then what do you reckon? Just give us a
quick rundown if you come for the Wrexham game. What
else should you go do?

Speaker 2 (01:30):
Oh, there's a lot going on. Obviously, Willingston's really walkable
and there's easy access to the stadium for Wrexham. There'll
be light installations down on the waterfront. My favorite bakery
Volco Bakery and Wellington or Cog for dinner. There's certainly
you know, the cable car to Papa Zelandia, the zoo.
I mean, there's plenty to keep everyone busy if they

(01:51):
come for a weekend in Wellington.

Speaker 1 (01:52):
The times have changed since I live there. I don't
know either of those places, Hidi, Thank you, Heidi. Molton
Wellington and z events and experience as general manager. Do
you know what you need to do if you go
down for that just talk about light installation. You need
to go look at those disco toilets, because that's the
first thing I'd be doing. If I was going to
Wellington any time soon. I'd land the plane, well they would.
I wouldn't land the plane, obviously that would be a disaster.

(02:13):
They would land the plane, I'd jump off the plane.
I'd get in an nuber and I'd say, take me
to the disco toilets immediately. I need to go and
look why toilets cost two point three million dollars. For
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