Destination update
Otautahi Christchurch
NEW ZEALAND’S SECOND CITY HAS ITS EYES FIRMLY FIXED ON THE FUTURE,
DESPITE THE LATEST CRISIS AROUND COVID-19
tautahi Christchurch is a
resilient city ready to
bounce back from yet
another shock to its
economy and people.
New Zealand’s second largest city
has faced plenty of crises in the past
decade, and lessons learnt from each
of those challenges will stand it in
good stead to respond to the economic
impact of Covid-19.
Before the pandemic, Otautahi
Christchurch held a 9% market share
of business events in New Zealand
and plans are in place to increase this
to over 20%. Te Pae Christchurch
Convention Centre, managed by ASM
Global, is New Zealand’s first
purpose-built convention centre and
will open in the coming months and
help catalyse this growth.
The city’s convention bureau is part
of a dedicated local event professional
community which understands the
importance of collaborating to achieve
success. The Bureau sits within
ChristchurchNZ, the city’s economic
development and profile agency, who
are taking a lead role in delivering a
comprehensive economic recovery
plan, including stimulation of the
visitor sector.
Loren Heaphy, ChristchurchNZ
General Manager of Destination and
Attraction, said, when the time was
right, Christchurch was ready and
willing to welcome back business
events.
“Business events will be one of the
critical factors which stimulates the
recovery of our economy following the
shock of Covid-19. We plan to
strategically increase our visibility as
a business events destination and
focus our attention on attracting
high-yielding business event visitors,
and events aligned with our city
aspirations,” Heaphy said.
By far the largest South Island
centre, Christchurch has a strong
knowledge base, multiple tertiaries
and a world-class health precinct.
Delegates can also explore mountains
for skiing, rivers, lakes and coastlines
for water adventures, and a thriving
urban centre of restaurants, retail and
galleries.
A forum of city representatives
coordinated by ChristchurchNZ
recently identified four Supernodes
– growth sectors where Christchurch
had existing capability – and the local
convention bureau has been actively
seeking business events aligned with
these sectors.
Ross Steele, Te Pae Christchurch
General Manager, said the business
events industry worked to long lead
times, and his team continued to work
with clients to bring events to the city.
“We are positively planning for the
future and ensuring Te Pae
Christchurch, together with
ChristchurchNZ and Tourism New
Zealand, will continue to bring
business events to our city,” Steele
said.
Business events had an opportunity
“to be part of the solution,” Steele said,
while also “providing opportunities
for the transfer of knowledge in those
key sectors to benefit our community”.
Hybrid and digital meetings are
also expected to become more
prevalent in the future and the local
network has been gearing up to
ensure Christchurch had capability to
provide these solutions.
“As a new centre, Te Pae
Christchurch is fortunate to feature all
the right equipment to support these
types of events,” Steele said.
When the time is right, and it will
be right again, Otautahi Christchurch
will be primed and ready to welcome
international delegates.
Above: The Terrace
and Avon River
Christchurch
Left: Port Hills
bouldering
Christchurch
Below: OGB Bar
Christchurch
ISSUE 106
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CONFERENCE & MEETINGS WORLD
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