'The bridge has been terrible for us' - hopes SailGP will spark business

• Bars and restaurants along Wynyard Quarter are hopeful SailGP will attract foot traffic
• The Wynyard Crossing Bridge had been closed since March
• The global sailing event in Auckland is expected to sell out

Businesses along Auckland's waterfront want reassurance that the Wynyard Crossing Bridge will re-open before the SailGP regatta in January.

Sail GP expects more than 20,000 people in downtown Auckland for the highly anticipated New Zealand Sail Grand Prix.

The global racing championships, set to take place from 18-19 January, is expected to boost the economy by at least $5 million.

Nearby stores are hopeful SailGP will bring much-needed crowds to the area, but some say the broken pedestrian bridge has taken away foot traffic - and their livelihoods.

The bridge - which opened and closed for boats to pass and allowed pedestrians to walk from the CBD - has been stuck upright since March. People have instead had to take a 15 minute detour.

The Conservatory general manager Daniel Toledo hoped SailGP would bring life back to the quarter.

"We're expecting SailGP to be a very big event for us. Hopefully, it's going to bring all the people we've been missing during the winter season and having all these challenges with the bridge."

But Toledo said until the bridge was repaired, the bar could not properly prepare for the regatta.

"The bridge has been terrible for us.

"As the bridge is not fixed yet and we don't have a proper date, we have to work extremely tight in terms of preparing staff and stock.

"Until we have an exact date, we can't have a date for the preparations."

He said since the bridge closed, they had seen a 60 percent loss in revenue.

"It's the lowest we've ever been."

Wynyard Pavilion business leader Helen McDowell said the whole wharf had been suffering from a lack of foot traffic.

"It's been dire. In our whole life-span here on the wharf, we haven't seen or felt anything like this apart from Covid when we were closed.

"It has just been awful."

McDowell said updates on the bridge's progress had been slow in coming.

"We don't have any confidence really that the December deadline is going to be met.

"We've had functions booked for next year say they don't have confidence, so we're losing a lot of business because there's been a lack of communication."

But she said SailGP would help their situation.

"We're so excited the event is being held in this area, an area that really needs it. Wynyard Pavilion will be the place to be for SailGP."

Nick Hill, the chief executive of Auckland's economic and cultural agency Tātaki Auckland Unlimited, said Auckland Council's development arm Eke Panuku expected the bridge to be back in operation by December this year.

"Eke Panuku is saying it will be done by December. Everything should fall into place.

"It's just a shame we've had to experience this period."

With a newly-built Waitematā Harbour racecourse, Hill said the city was ready after having to withdraw from hosting in March this year.

"It's a unique event and it's taken a bit to get it set up in the right place, which is in the inner harbour, just in front of the Harbour Bridge off Wynyard Point.

"But it'll be absolutely spectacular. An event like this is made for a marine city like Auckland."

He said Tātaki Auckland Unlimited expected 10,000 hotel nights to be booked over the sailing weekend, a significant boost for the accommodation sector.

Tickets to the global sailing championship - which the city is hosting for the first time - went on sale today and are set to sell out.

SailGP said thousands of tickets were snapped up during a pre-sale release yesterday.