New Zealand's top venue is ...

Eden Park, Westpac Stadium, Vector Arena and Dunedin's Forsyth Barr Stadium have each been acclaimed by New Zealanders for atmosphere, accessibility and the events they host.

Having surveyed 10,000 New Zealanders since last July, the gemba Group have identified New Zealand's major venues as being acclaimed for different characteristics.

Westpac Stadium in Wellington tops the list for being accessible; Bowl of Brooklands in New Plymouth has the best atmosphere; Eden Park is number one when it comes to suitability for sports events and Vector Arena, also in Auckland, is first choice for entertainment events. Dunedin's Forsyth Barr Stadium was described by most as New Zealand's 'world-class' venue.

Since April 2009, the gemba Group has surveyed nearly 30,000 New Zealanders on their behaviours and perceptions around 63 sports and 19 entertainment activities, and last year also added questions about the country's top venues.

gemba Group General Manager New Zealand Richard Howarth explains "we asked people if they were aware of sixteen venues in various New Zealand cities, whether they'd attended a variety of events, how they heard about those events; which image attributes they believed the venue represented; and whether they'd recommend that venue to their family and friends.

"Eden Park topped the awareness chart, with 81% of respondents correctly naming and locating the venue against an average of 43% for all sixteen venues.

"We also discovered that overall, men were 44% more likely to attend stadium sports events than women, and 13% more likely to go to an entertainment event like a music concert, although the specific artists performing would likely influence the profile of the attendee.

"We're not expecting too many males aged over 45 admitting to going to the One Direction or Taylor Swift concerts later this year!"

Chris Beattie, who leads the gemba Group's Venue & Facilities division, adds "we're seeing a trend in the market for venues to be even more enthusiastic about attracting a variety of content, whether that be sports or entertainment.

"In all of the 11 countries we run our sports and entertainment study we see a broad spectrum of passion points, and so stadium and arena managers are keen to match that audience interest with the supply of an extensive range of content. That consumer-focused approach makes a lot of sense."

Of the 10,000 adults aged 16-64 years old who answered the survey, 64% had attended a sports event at one of the stadia and 53% had visited a venue for an entertainment event.

For more information go to thegembagroup.com/

Image shows Wellington's Westpac Stadium.

17th April 2013 - THE GEMBA GROUP APPOINTED BY FOXTEL

5th August 2011 - DUNEDIN’S FORSYTH BARR STADIUM OPENS