Ryalux rolls out the red carpet for tourism New Zealand’s giant rugby ball event
February 2009
Ryalux provided a stunning red carpet from its V&A Twist collection to Tourism New Zealand for its Giant Rugby Ball event in London’s Potters Fields Park. Ryalux takes real pride in the fact that its V&A Twist carpets are made from 80 per cent pure New Zealand wool, and so it was ideally suited to this prestigious affair.
The event marks the culmination of Tourism New Zealand’s latest campaign to encourage visitors to New Zealand by giving them a taste of the country’s spectacular sights and sounds, and will kick off the festivities ahead of the 2011 Rugby World Cup. Ryalux supplied 15m x 2m of its beautiful V&A Twist carpet in Cinnabar, to create a dramatic entrance for the special guests that attended on the night, which included the Prime Minister of New Zealand, John Key.
The event itself was held inside a giant rugby ball - an eye-catching concept designed to raise New Zealand’s tourism profile. It was unveiled in Paris during the final stages of the 2007 Rugby World Cup, where over 25,000 visitors passed through it at its temporary site at the foot of the Eiffel Tower. Now that the giant rugby ball has completed its Channel crossing, the 25m x 17m x 12m structure is installed next to London’s Tower Bridge.
The giant rugby ball took five days to construct and can hold 220 people. Following November’s red carpet event, the temporary venue will be open to the public free of charge, and will use audio-visual technology to take visitors on a journey through New Zealand. This virtual voyage will showcase the country’s tourist offering, from its natural history and rich cultural heritage, to contemporary New Zealand culture. The rugby ball has already been visited by such high profile guests as The Queen, Mayor of London Boris Johnson, and the All Blacks.
Claire Huby, head of marketing at Ryalux, explains why Ryalux was keen to get involved with the event by supplying carpet from one of its best selling ranges: “Ryalux carpets are crafted using the finest New Zealand wool, which is the best in the world for achieving clarity of colour; something that was crucial to us in the development of the V&A Twist collection. Wool is an amazing material and produces carpet of an extremely high quality, which is not only hardwearing, but soft and luxurious underfoot - all adding to the impact of the V&A Twist in situ. It was a pleasure to offer the red carpet for the occasion, bringing that extra bit of glamour to an already exciting evening.”
