Another major exhibition at Wellington's $180 million convention centre has failed to break even, with the council refusing to say exactly how many people visited it.
Last July RNZ reported the first two major exhibitions at Tākina, Jurassic World by Brickman and Marvel: Earth's Mightiest Exhibition failed to either break even or reach their target visitor numbers.
The Doctor Who Worlds of Wonder ran from 1 June to 28 October and featured props from the BBC sci-fi show which first aired in 1963.
Part of the Doctor Who: Worlds of Wonder exhibition. Photo: Phoebe Mackenzie Wellington NZ
Documents provided under the Local Government Information Act by Wellington City Council show the exhibition made a loss, but the council refused to say how big the deficit was.
The council also said due to commercial sensitivities it could not release the specific number of how many people visited the event.
It did tell RNZ that the event had a target of 43,000 attendees and that tens of thousands of people attended.
Due to commercial sensitivities the council also refused to share how much ratepayer money was spent on the exhibition.
Davros in the Doctor Who: Worlds of Wonder exhibition. Photo: Phoebe Mackenzie Wellington NZ
Wellington Chamber of Commerce chief executive Simon Arcus told RNZ there had to be a profitable Tākina that made money for the city to justify holding these events.
Arcus said feedback he received was that the convention centre needed to coordinate exhibitions better with local businesses such as hotels, marketers and hospitality providers.
He was hopeful the building could be better utilised this year.
"When it comes to something like Tākina, what a great opportunity to work more closely with the business sector."
In November the council tabled a review on the Tākina Operating Model.
It was decided that the building's strategic plan, marketing, communications and PR would come under the control of the council's tourism arm WellingtonNZ.
Room for improvement - mayor
Tory Whanau Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
Wellington mayor Tory Whanau said Tākina's primary purpose was to attract people into the city and boost their local hospitality, retail and tourism businesses.
"I believe it is definitely doing that job."
Whanau said the building was a new venture for the capital and there was always room for improvement as they learned what worked.
"We have delivered four exhibitions since opening, half have made a profit, with things likely to improve as the general economy improves."
She said that the latest exhibition, The Art of Banksy, which ran from 28 November to 20 January was a big success and reportedly sold over 47,000 tickets.
"It was so popular that opening hours had to be extended."
Whanau said during a difficult economic period, having Tākina was great for the city and businesses.
Newly minted local government minister Simon Watts said he was sure it would be concerning Wellington City ratepayers if all three of Tākina's major exhibitions have not met their targets.
Watts said he was aware that at the Local Government New Zealand conference last year Prime Minister Christopher Luxon raised some concerns about the decision by Wellington City Council to spend $180 million on a convention centre despite some big problems with its very old water pipes.
"The government's challenge to councils has been clear - rein in the nice-to-haves and focus on delivering the basics brilliantly."
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