
VinFast IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship Named Finalist At The Major Or Mega Event Of The Year 2025
This year's awards received a record number of entries, with judges praising the outstanding calibre of events across the country.
In such a competitive field, being recognised as a finalist is a remarkable achievement and a testament to the dedication, collaboration, and passion behind delivering this world-class event in Taupō,' said Sinead Vincent, District Events Manager at Taupō District Council. 'This recognition reflects the collective efforts of our partners, the IRONMAN Group, Tūwharetoa Māori Trust Board, Te Kotahitanga o Ngāti Tūwharetoa, and Ngāti Tahu – Ngāti Whaoa, whose support was instrumental in making it all possible.
The winners will be announced at the NZEA Awards Gala on Tuesday 2 September 2025 at Claudelands Events Centre, Hamilton.
'This recognition highlights the scale and impact of the VinFast IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship and the incredible effort from all involved – from organisers and volunteers to the local community, iwi partners, businesses and supporters,' said Patrick Dault, General Manager of Destination Great Lake Taupō.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Scoop
15-07-2025
- Scoop
Supercars Drives Boost For Taupō District
The ITM Taupō Super 440 leg of the Repco Supercars Championship in April 2025 brought a multi-million dollar boost to the local economy. Taupō once again shone on the global stage with over 51,000 fans in attendance at Taupō International Motorsport Park and community events over the race weekend. Visitors accounted for over 36,000 room nights, with thousands of people travelling from Australia and across New Zealand. While the full economic data is still being finalised, early indications suggest the event once again delivered a multi-million dollar benefit for the Taupō region. The event placed a strong emphasis on sustainability and community values, reflected in the Track to Town event, vibrant storefront displays, and free park-and-ride buses that helped remove thousands of vehicles from the roads. Sustainability efforts extended to waste management, with Closed Loop Environmental Solutions sorting over 250 cubic metres of waste during the race weekend. Separated glass and plastics, aluminium cans, and cardboard were diverted away from landfill and about 38 cubic metres of organic material was processed locally into vermicast by My Noke. Taupō District is widely known as a destination for domestic and international tourism, and Taupō District Council events and venues manager Steve Giles said the success of this year's Supercars helps cement the district's place on the international stage. 'Supercars is a sporting event like nothing else. We enjoy working with them and it gives us a chance to show to the world not only our unique culture and hospitality, but what a place like Taupō can achieve' he said. Almost 3000 media reports mentioned the event, reaching a cumulative audience of over 70 million people, while television audiences across 128 countries reached a cumulative average audience of over 1.1 million viewers. In partnership with the Tauhara Hapū collective, local culture and heritage was prominent, with a haka on the grid prior to the first race. Local musician Tyree Wall sang the national anthem. Taupō artist Delani Brown's hand-carved trophies were formally blessed and gifted to Supercars during the pōwhiri at Te Ātea – Tapuaeharuru on Taupō's lakefront. Taupō District Council's district events manager Sinead Vincent says the post-event report and figures reflect the immense effort behind the scenes, with the economic impact alone not to be underestimated. 'Local businesses and the community truly stepped up. Volunteers aged from 18 to 80 turned out in force to help make the event weekend a huge success. 'The benefits will ripple across the whole district, and the community should be proud of what has been accomplished,' she said. Supercars racing in Taupō has been guaranteed until 2028 and the Repco Supercars Championship will return in 2026 with its first-ever trans-island double header. Taupō will host Supercars from 10 to 12 April before they make their South Island debut at Ruapuna Raceway, Christchurch from 17 to 19 April 2026.


Scoop
08-07-2025
- Scoop
VinFast IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship Named Finalist At The Major Or Mega Event Of The Year 2025
Destination Great Lake Taupō is proud to announce that the VinFast IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship has been named a finalist in the Major or Mega Event of the Year category at the 2025 NZEA New Zealand Event Awards. This year's awards received a record number of entries, with judges praising the outstanding calibre of events across the country. In such a competitive field, being recognised as a finalist is a remarkable achievement and a testament to the dedication, collaboration, and passion behind delivering this world-class event in Taupō,' said Sinead Vincent, District Events Manager at Taupō District Council. 'This recognition reflects the collective efforts of our partners, the IRONMAN Group, Tūwharetoa Māori Trust Board, Te Kotahitanga o Ngāti Tūwharetoa, and Ngāti Tahu – Ngāti Whaoa, whose support was instrumental in making it all possible. The winners will be announced at the NZEA Awards Gala on Tuesday 2 September 2025 at Claudelands Events Centre, Hamilton. 'This recognition highlights the scale and impact of the VinFast IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship and the incredible effort from all involved – from organisers and volunteers to the local community, iwi partners, businesses and supporters,' said Patrick Dault, General Manager of Destination Great Lake Taupō.


Scoop
30-06-2025
- Scoop
Taupō District Council Adopts Its Annual Plan
Taupō District Council yesterday adopted its Annual Plan for the 2025/26 year. The Annual Plan process provides Council the ability to set both the rates and the fees and charges for the next year. In its Long-term Plan 2024-34, Council forecast an 8.3 percent rates increase for the financial year beginning today. The final rates increase is 0.1 percent higher at 8.4 percent. In the nine months between the Long-term Plan being adopted and the Annual Plan, there have been a number of unplanned increases to essential business costs, mostly driven by central government requirements as well as rises in contract costs. Staff worked hard to find budget reductions and trade-offs to find a balance. The changes mean there will be a slower pace of delivering some projects although key commitments in the Long-term Plan, such as water treatment plant upgrades, will still be delivered. Councillors said putting up rates was a difficult decision because many of the unplanned costs have arisen due to new central government requirements. Councils are primarily funded by rates and therefore have no other way to pay for the increased costs involved in projects such as government water reform. Mayor David Trewavas summed up councillors' sentiment towards unfunded government directives, saying 'stop flogging us at every opportunity'. After rates were charged in three instalments last year due to late adoption of the Long-term Plan, rates instalments for the 2025-26 year will revert to the usual quarterly pattern of August, November, February and May. There are also various options for people to pay monthly, fortnightly or even weekly. For people struggling to pay their rates, Department of Internal Affairs administers a rates rebate scheme which was extended to more SuperGold cardholders in last month's Budget. You can find out more information about the scheme here: