NZICC opening delayed again

7th February 2025 By Staff Reporter | news@propertyticker.co.nz | @propertyticker

The opening of the New Zealand International Convention Centre in Auckland has been delayed until February next year.

SkyCity Entertainment Group previously said it would open in the second half of this year – after a long series of delays – but the company announced today that it will open for international and domestic conferences and events in February next year.

Delays by the contractor meant SkyCity did not expect to commence its own commissioning and operational readiness activities at the NZICC until the second half of this year, following the delivery of the completed venue from Fletcher Building.

“The date is later than we’d hoped but offers contingency, as well as certainty for our customers,” said SkyCity chief executive Jason Walbridge.

“We are thrilled to name February 2026 as the date  we can open  the NZICC’s doors to the New Zealand public and the world. 

“The NZICC is a world-class facility that will transform the visitor and events economy in Aotearoa.”

NZICC general manager Prue Daly said the venue has been over a decade in the making, overcoming a major fire in 2019 and other delays that pushed its original completion date out.

“Through resilience and determination, NZICC is gearing up to make its mark on the global stage,” she said.

“It’s a complex undertaking to get ready to open, including scaling up our number of employees and associated training to provide the ultimate customer experience.

“New Zealanders and visitors worldwide will be blown away by the innovation and thought that’s gone into every detail of the building – it’s configured for anything from a meeting for 20 people all the way up to an international conference for 3,000 delegates.”

To date, two conferences have been booked at the NZICC: the International Dairy Federation’s World Dairy Summit next year and the IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium in 2028.