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SCMP Reporter

AUCKLAND, new home of the America's Cup, could be set for an economic boom thanks to its yacht, Black Magic I which wrested the coveted trophy from Dennis Conner last weekend.

  Nine years ago, the Australian town of Freemantle sprang to life when it became the first non-US venue to host the America's Cup defence, after businessman Alan Bond's Australia II won the 'Auld Mug' in Newport, Rhode Island.

  Black Magic I repeated Australia II's feat at the weekend, snatching the cup from Mr Conner's Stars & Stripes team and the borrowed Young America boat in the best-of-nine series off San Diego.

  After Mr Bond's victory, the sleepy, working port of Fremantle on the west coast of Australia was transformed from a working-class satellite of Perth, to an upwardly mobile address with a healthy cafe and tourist scene.

  Deteriorating historic port buildings were restored and are now an important tourist draw for the Western Australia state.

  John Dethridge, director of Fremantle real estate firm John Dethridge and Co, said Fremantle's turn-of-the-century buildings had been ripe for development, but the America's Cup hastened the process.

  'Development that normally would have taken five to seven years to occur happened in the space of three to four years,' Mr Dethridge said.

  Fremantle real estate prices surged when the America's Cup was first won, then experienced a slow upward trend in the run-up to the defence series, October 1986 to February 1987.

  'Prior to the defence series, Fremantle had almost no quality accommodation and little tourist infrastructure.

  'The cup brought a flurry of investment that left Fremantle with two quality hotels, dozens of restaurants, a host of quality bed-and-breakfast establishments and self-catering accommodation,' Mr Dethridge said.

  'Also, many existing hotels and restaurants were renovated, as were many of the city's rundown terrace houses, which were transformed into prime real estate.'   The defence boosted the state's economy by A$454 million (about HK$2.58 billion) through building activity, operational expenditure and visitors, a government report found.

  The two-year study found that 930,600 visitors went to Perth during the five-month defence series, 14 per cent more than the previous corresponding period and 27 per cent more than in 1984-85.

  The number of international visitors during the defence campaign leapt by 94 per cent.

  The study found visitors spent $95 million more than would have been expected if the America's Cup had not been held.

  Other spending associated with the America's Cup included $72 million by the defending and challenging syndicates and $122 million on construction, capital equipment and operations.

  The service industry gained $165 million during the defence.

  Fremantle only hosted one defence series, but the America's Cup injected a lasting vitality into the port city and established it as a mecca for tourists to Western Australia.

  Mr Dethridge cautioned Auckland not to get carried away.

  'A lot of entrepreneurs got their fingers burnt with the bigger developments in Fremantle. I think they bargained on Fremantle keeping the cup for more than one campaign.' 



Black Magic spells boom