Hayley in Paris Giant Ball

[graemek]

Well Stephany,

There's no reason to burn that ball now.

CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR WIN

Vive la France

What did you do when your team won? Tell us !!!

Graeme

[Stephany]

graemek said:

There's no reason to burn that ball now.

Very true, Graeme. And I'm sure the French will be very glad to visit it to discover more about New Zealand. Many of us will want to book a trip for the 2011 World Cup (including me - but that's another story and more of a dream ). Parisians will also have a good surprise if they walk by the Eiffel Tower today:

In a mark of good sportsmanship Tourism New Zealand's giant rugby ball marquee situated below the Eiffel Tower was quick to congratulate the winners, displaying a sign that read "Bravo France".

But while New Zealand could not believe the win, neither could some French supporters - one said: "I'm not sure we deserved to win".

Thank you Kiwis - you have a wonderful team and we wish you all the best for 2011.

[Stephany]

My Mum went near the Eiffel Tower to see the Giant Ball this morning. She took a few pictures for us. Inside the ball, she watched a 10 minutes video clip about New Zealand. She also got flyers and a CD-rom. I'm secretly hoping that she will watch it and suddenly say 'Let's go to New Zealand'

Stephany

[Mark]

Hi Stephany

Please say "thanks" to your mum for taking these wonderful photo's. I hope that she will be inspired to want to go to New Zealand - and to take you with her of course

Lots of love

Mark x

[Stephany]

Thanks Mark - I hope so too

I just found a picture of Hayley, Gerald and NZ Rugby Union Chairman Jock Hobbs inside the Paris Giant Ball. I don't know if it's supposed to be ironic or not but the headline of the information website was 'Scoop Flashback: Hayley, Jock And The PM In Happier Times - Two Days Ago'. There wasn't any extensive coverage of this inauguration as it was a V.I.P event but this picture is better than nothing!
You can read more about this Giant Ball on Scoop.co.nz.

Stephany

[Stephany]

Another picture of Hayley in Paris with Michael Becker, executive director of 'Kea Campers'. Other guests include NZ Prime Minister Helen Clark, Bruno Trouble (Louis Vuitton), John Kirwan, Darren Hughes MP, Yuka Lagrange, Annie Dundas (TNZ Paris Manager), Bridget Gee (MFAT), George Hickton, Tourism New Zealand CEO and Mike Mizrahi, designer of New Zealand's giant rugby ball.

More info and pictures on www.tourismnewzealand.com

Stephany

[Joe]

Hi Stephany,

Wow...I love these photos from your mother. Looks like a traditional Maori performance there as well. And then she went inside the "giant ball"...Yes, perhaps she will plan a trip to NZ with the travel cd-rom!

Joe

[comet]

Hi Folks.

Lovely to see Hayley with her DAD, he does look proud of her.

CHARMING.

comet

[Stephany]

There was an interview of Hollie Smith in today's 'The Press (Christchurch)' where she briefly mentions the Paris Giant Ball and Hayley:

ONE MINUTE WITH HOLLIE SMITH
Vicki ANDERSON
19 October 2007
The Press (Christchurch)
© 2007 Fairfax New Zealand Limited. All Rights Reserved.

Hey Hollie, what are you doing?

I'm good, pretty frantic really. In the last month I did a small tour around New Zealand, then I've just got back from the States two days ago. I'm just trying to pack now -- I'm going to London and France, and then I go back on tour. I don't know what to take.

What are you doing in the giant rugby ball?

We're playing in it. I think we're doing four or five shows in there -- it's a corporate-type thing where we just do 20 minutes every night to promote New Zealand music so it should be interesting. It's one of those things about corporate gigs... it'll be a weird crowd but it'll be fun to be there. A bunch of people will be there. My band's coming over with me, the Shapeshifter boys will be there and Dave Dobbyn and Hayley Westenra.

[/color][/size][/quote]
Stephany

[Stephany]

The Giant Kiwi Ball is about to be deflated and it looks as though it was a real success. Hope that the French will now massively go to New Zealand i.postimg.cc/9fYxy370/smilie-big-grin.gif

Tourism NZ gears up for 2011 World Cup
By JON HOYLE - The Dominion Post | Monday, 22 October 2007
The Rugby World Cup is over. New Zealand's rugby ball-shaped pavilion in Paris is about to be deflated, but the drive to gain several hundred million tourist dollars in 2011 will soon move into second-phase play.

Soon after the fulltime whistle blew yesterday, Tourism New Zealand chief executive George Hickton said the inflatable pavilion had been a "phenomenal success", attracting 25,000 visitors, including dignitaries and business people, to promotional shows and six separate functions.

The $4 million pavilion - which has been next to the Eiffel Tower for the past month - is part of the strategy to get the 60,000 rugby tourists expected in New Zealand for the next world cup to extend their stays and spend about $500 million.

Britain and Australia were now the most likely destinations for the pavilion, as they were expected to send the greatest numbers of rugby tourists to New Zealand

[/color], Mr Hickton said.

The pavilion is also likely to be reassembled for the 2011 Rugby World Cup in Auckland. The $4 million spent on the pavilion had been a sound investment, he said.

Auckland's incoming mayor John Banks' threat to pull out of a $30 million Auckland ratepayer contribution toward the $190 million upgrade of the 2011 Rugby World Cup venue, Eden Park, had been taken with a grain of salt by international media, Mr Hickton said.

"At the end of the day, New Zealand made a commitment to put a 65,000-seat stadium in Auckland and they will do it." New Zealand being knocked out in the quarter- finals had worked to the advantage of the tourism sector, he said.

"We had put projections on to the ball saying: `Bravo France, see you in 2011' and I think the French respected that and saw we were good sports."

The pavilion also gave New Zealand World Cup promoters the chance to focus on the 80,000 English and French fans before and after the final game.

"And if we hadn't been there, there would have been virtually no New Zealand presence for the last two weeks of the World Cup," Mr Hickton said.

Last week, Tourism New Zealand launched the online Front Row Rugby Club, a marketing campaign headed by former All Black captain Tana Umanga, to attract fans to the 2011 cup.

Yesterday, Rugby World Cup Minister Trevor Mallard said he would soon start a world cup "leveraging and legacy project" headed by a high-profile business person. [/size][/quote]
Stephany