CHRISTCHURCH RECOVERY ON TRACK

STRONG support from Australia’s travel trade has helped Christchurch regain a foothold in the tourism market as it works towards a full recovery after the 2010 and 2011 earthquakes. During the NZ mega famil in October, Christchurch and Canterbury Tourism general manager marketing Rowan Townsend expressed gratitude for the Australian trade’s support, noting that travel agents had helped to “kick start” travel back to Christchurch and the Canterbury region. With holiday arrivals for September up year on year, recovery efforts are well underway, with new accommodation, restaurants and bars continuing to emerge. Creative art installations and theatre performances are also scheduled throughout the year to attract travellers to the region. Christchurch is also expecting a “strong summer season”, Townsend said, adding that trans-tasman airline capacity into Christchurch Airport is up by 11%, marking the biggest gain since the earthquakes. Accommodation capacity in the city has been boosted by 25% with the reopening of four central city hotels – Novotel Christchurch, Heritage Cathedral Square, Quest Apartments and Hotel 115 – adding 300 new guest rooms to the central city’s inventory. The recently-opened 136-room Latimer Hotel, managed by Rydges, also joins the new 171-room Rendezvous Hotel Christchurch, while Copthorne Hotel Commodore has added 25 new guest rooms and suites and Airport Gateway Lodge has opened 32 new boutique suites. The additional hotel rooms bring Christchurch’s accommodation capacity to approximately 68% of its pre-quake level. Christchurch and Canterbury Tourism chief executive Tim Hunter said the hotel openings are a sign of progress for the region’s tourism sector, with the new convention centre slated to open in 2017 also expected to give hotel investors confidence to proceed with proposed developments. More than 794 cafés, restaurants and bars are now open in the city, with hospitality outlets now at more than 80% of where they were before the quake.