New flights a boon for Mackenzie
Direct flights from Guangzhou to Christchurch will test the infrastructure that Mackenzie has to support tourists, the district’s mayor says.
The three-times-a-week direct China Southern Airlines flights were officially signed off at a ceremony on Wednesday and are worth up to $100 million to the Canterbury region.
Mackenzie mayor Claire Barlow was at the ceremony, along with Prime Minister John Key, who announced $1.5 million in government marketing spend over three years to support the new venture.
The new year-round service will be provided by a Boeing 787 Dreamliner, and Christchurch Airport estimates that the new airline’s customers will boost the South Island’s economy by $100 million a year.
At the ceremony a picture of the Church of the Good Shepherd in Tekapo was presented to the airline’s president, Tan Wan Geng, who had spent time in Mackenzie just after the June snow and was very impressed, Barlow said.
‘‘It’s a real coup for Mackenzie, it will be just fantastic. They’re just such a huge airline.
‘‘Our biggest challenge will probably be making sure we have the infrastructure and the ability to accommodate the number of new tourists we will get this summer.’’
Barlow said while the flights were to Christchurch, Chinese tourists almost always spread their itineraries around the South Island, with campervan and car hiring growing in popularity.
That had its own problems because of the vast difference between driving in China and driving in Mackenzie.
But Chinese tourists were often unfairly stigmatised when other tourists were just as bad, Barlow said.
‘‘It will be interesting to see how this summer goes in regards to that,’’ she said.
Key said the new service was good for the people of Canterbury, who had worked hard to rebuild their economy over the past few years.
New Zealand’s tourism sector was in great shape, he said.
‘‘We’ve just celebrated our 3 millionth visitor in the past year. Those visitors spent $8.7 billion – up 28 per cent on the previous 12 months,’’ Key said.
‘‘China is a major contributor to that growth. Annual visitor arrivals from China are up 23 per cent in the past year to 315,200.
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It’s a real coup for Mackenzie, it will be just fantastic. They’re just such a huge airline Mackenzie District Mayor Claire Barlow
‘‘Chinese visitor expenditure has topped $1 billion for the first time.’’
In Christchurch, 61,000 Chinese tourists visited last year, spending $43m, he said.
Tan said Christchurch was one of the ‘‘new and exciting’’ destinations the airline was spreading into.
‘‘After several years of development we now have five destinations in Australasia, compared to two in 2009. With an estimated passenger boardings of more than 1 million this year, China Southern is now the largest air carrier on the route between mainland China and Australasia.’’