Students on the job in Kaikoura

Quake-affected Kaikoura businesses are set to benefit from a joint University of Canterbury and NZ Transport Agency student challenge to help boost visitor numbers.

The three-day NZTA Kaikoura Challenge follows a similar format to the university’s previous 21-Day Challenges, which sent students from the University of Canterbury’s Centre for Entrepreneurship to a typhoon-affected village in the Philippines in 2015 to improve food sustainability on the Pacific island of Niue in 2016.

Operations director Dr Rachel Wright said Kaikoura’s economic and social well-being is heavily dependent on tourism.

‘‘Since the quakes, visitor numbers have dropped significantly and so action is needed to help the community through what is likely to be a hard winter.

‘‘We think the three-day Kaikoura Challenge offers an exciting opportunity for students from all disciplines to make a tangible positive difference to a community in need.

‘‘While helping the Kaikoura community in extraordinary circumstances is the aim, the students will also be developing and using key skills, such as collaboration and innovative thinking, which will benefit their future careers.’’

Students from the university met for the first time on Sunday and will arrive on Friday to work in teams to create and identify potential solutions to help attract more visitors to the region. During their stay they will explore Kaikoura and consult with local businesspeople, the council and NZTA representativesto develop strategies to help increase visitor numbers to the region.

At the end of the weekend, each team will pitch its strategy to a judging panel, with a share of a $3000 prize pool to be won.

Residents can be come part of the challenge and watch progress at the Kaikoura Challenge base at the Memorial Hall.

The NZTA Kaikoura Challenge is open to all undergraduate and postgraduate University of Canterbury students from all areas of study, however, given the short timeframe, particular courses of study had already been approached to raise awareness among students.

More information can be found www.uce.canterbury.ac.nz/competitions/ nzta.shtml at