The Phoenix game on Sunday night generated millions of dollars for the capital, says Positively Wellington Tourism.
The organisation, which promotes Wellington as a tourist destination, says almost 33,000 football fans watched the team beat the Newcastle Jets at the Westpac Stadium and move to within one game of the A-League grand final.
Positively Wellington Tourism says the game attracted up to 5000 visitors from outside the city.
Several bars and restaurants on the capital's waterfront say they called in additional staff. Some say they were dealing with up to four times the number of customers than is usual on a Sunday evening.
The Wellington Phoenix beat the Newcastle Jets 3-1.
Phoenix star striker Paul Ifill blasted a goal in the dying seconds of the first half of extra time and Eugene Dadi smashed another into the net with six minutes to play.
The game ended in regulation time with the scores level at one-all after first half goals to Newcastle's Matt Thompson and the Phoenix Tim Brown.
However, neither side could break the deadlock and the game went to extra time where Ifill slammed the game-breaking goal into the bottom left hand corner of the Jets net.
It was then Dadi who finished off a slick Phoenix counter-attack with the Jets pressing forward to secure the history making victory.
The Phoenix will play Sydney next weekend for a chance to meet Melbourne Victory in the grand final on 20 March.
