Plan proposed to attract shoppers
A ratepayer-funded campaign is being proposed to lure shoppers into Christchurch’s central city in the depths of winter.
Central city retailers have experienced a good summer so far with plenty of visitors and shoppers, but it follows a dismal winter as shoppers flocked to indoor suburban malls instead.
The Christchurch City Council is hoping to avoid another winter like 2018 and is proposing to spend $280,000 on a winter package to support the central city.
The money would be spent on a marketing campaign ($130,000) and smallscale events ($80,000) to attract people into the central city during the winter months. Another $70,000 would be spent employing a person for a year to work with the city’s economic development and tourism agency ChristchurchNZ, the Central City Business Association, Hospitality NZ and others in the private sector.
A report, to be discussed at a council meeting on Thursday, says the city is reemerging as a focal point for people, but support will still be needed over the next one to two years, particularly during winter.
Many events are already planned for winter 2019, including a revamped Arts
Festival and Kids Fest, but more events are needed to fill the gaps and ensure a consistent ‘‘central city buzz’’, the report says.
However, the retail and hospitality sector would need to play their part too.
‘‘Evening events during winter, without corresponding changes to opening hours, will have minimal benefit for retail businesses,’’ the report says.
‘‘There is no silver bullet to overcoming the perceptions and engagement of residents and visitors with the central city.’’
Business association manager Paul Lonsdale said this summer had been a good one for central city retailers with early estimates showing spending was up, especially across hospitality, but last winter was tough and no-one wanted to see that repeated.
Since last winter, the new Hoyts cinema complex had opened, as well as Tu¯ ranga, the new central library, and the town hall would open later this month, but just how much of an impact these would have on winter shopper numbers was unknown, Lonsdale said.
‘‘We need to ensure that we’re doing all we can to make sure we come out of the winter in good shape.’’ Paul Lonsdale
Central City Business Association manager
‘‘We need to ensure that we’re doing all we can to make sure we come out of the winter in good shape.
‘‘We’ve got to think of ways we can get people out of the mall rut and re-teach them to put a coat on, put some gloves on and experience the elements. I think we’ve become a little bit soft.’’
The winter package proposal was developed by council staff and ChristchurchNZ, which would get $100,000 of the funding to conduct a marketing campaign aimed at people outside Christchurch.
ChristchurchNZ chief executive Joanna Norris said the central city had experienced good retail growth for December, but spending was expected to soften into winter so it was important to increase the profile of the central city during that period, locally and nationally.
The $100,000 would be spent on a national marketing campaign focusing on people living in Auckland, Wellington and the rest of the South Island, she said.
The library, Hoyts, and town hall would provide extra incentives for people to come into the city in winter, especially since they were all indoor facilities, but it was important to keep up the momentum gained during summer, Norris said.
Central ward councillor Deon Swiggs said he was interested to see what the marketing campaign would involve and what events were being looked at, because these were not clear from the report.
He said he would have liked the council to continue offering one-hour free parking at its parking buildings, because it had a good impact on the central city.
The council will decide on Thursday whether to include the
$280,000 winter package in the
2019-20 draft annual plan.