Don't worry about the 8.4 mil. They'll increase the departure tax to take care of that.
Who is kidding who here? Are the councillors being blinded by bull**** or do they truely believe that they are going to get the inbound numbers to make an "investment" of 8.4 big ones worthwhile.
Someone should be taking them to task and asking how they justify such expenditure. I bet the numbers won't stand up to proper scrutiny. Once again we have people with inflated opinions of their own importance building a monument to themselves, with other peoples money.
How many airlines are there who would want to cross the Tasman to NZRO. Have they done any real research?
My bet is a very substantial sweetener will need to be offered to get any trans Tasman operation up and going, any forecast return from the planned expenditure will be more than lost here.
The money would be better spent getting tourists who are flying into Auckland to travel to the Rotorua area and to get them to spend more time there. Having said that, getting people to spend more time in a smelly hole that RO is will be a challenge.