A proposed 3500-capacity National Convention Centre in Auckland is expected to draw tens of thousands more tourists to the city, generating significant revenues for the government, New Zealand Herald reports.

The Herald reported that adult entertainment, including the sex industry, is expected to get a boost from the centre as the NZ government is negotiating a deal that would allow a casino operator to build the centre with a $350 million budget, and for this, the government may approve legislative changes to allow the casino operator to provide more poker machines, gaming tables and other regulatory concessions.

Jacqui Le Prou, director of "gentlemen's clubs" Calendar Girls and The Whiskey Lounge, told the Herald her company's operations in Christchurch earned well every time there was a big convention in the city.

"Of course men, when they go away out of town, they like to visit my kind of establishment or an escort agency," she said.

Once approved and established, the new convention centre is seen to attract an additional 22,000 foreign visitors to Auckland and increase government's tourism revenue by up to $85.4 million, the Herald reports.

Brian Le Gros, owner of Queen St's Whitehouse strip club and massage parlour, told the Herald the centre would yield tourism revenue all year round for Auckland.

"It's hard to say whether I'm going to get any of them. If they don't bring their wives, (I) probably will," he said.

Catherine Healy of the New Zealand Prostitutes' Collective, told the Herald international conventions are good for her business because it drives people away from their normal lifestyle. She added sex workers were "a savvy bunch and if money's being spent somewhere they engineer to be around."

Research by the United States Centre for Problem Oriented Policing had earlier found that street prostitution thrives around convention centres and hotels, "especially when mostly male conventions are held."