Te Pae Christchurch Convention Centre has well surpassed performance benchmarks in its first year of operation, and is scoring goals for its sustainability practices along the way.
The Centre has just celebrated its first anniversary, revealing to TTGmice that it outperformed its initial projections by about 50 per cent.
“It’s way better than we ever thought it was going to be and it was probably due to a combination of factors,” said its general manager Ross Steele.
“Covid compressed the years and postponed some events, and we’re still seeing some of that flow through for next year. But generally, I think there’s been a real pent-up demand for Christchurch which is starting to pay dividends now,” he added.
Steele also attributed the centre’s success to its strategy of procuring local suppliers, which means the convention centre is “doing exactly what it should be doing, (which is) driving economic value to the city”.
He said: “You can see the difference now that (the return of business is) making to some of our suppliers and even to some of the enterprises in and around us, who are taking on additional staff because of the (increased) business.
Domestic airline operations are also back at capacity, while international routes are now at about 80 per cent of pre-Covid levels. New routes from America and Asia are also coming online, in a show of confidence for Christchurch’s return to the international meetings circuit.
Te Pae Christchurch is also measuring its environmental impact as the first international standard convention centre to open in New Zealand ahead of Tākina Wellington and New Zealand International Convention Centre. Carbon consumption is being tracked to establish offset targets, which will also provide the centre the data it needs for its goal of reducing carbon use in following years, among other sustainable practices.
The Centre has just been re-certified the top gold status during this year’s Qualmark Sustainable Tourism Business Award review, improving on its inaugural evaluation across 26 criteria. It did significantly well in the economic and environment and culture categories, and also performed well in the areas of workplace culture, community and industry engagement.
Steele said it was also timely that recertification was awarded during TRENZ 2023, the country’s most significant international B2B travel trade event which was hosted recently at Te Pae Christchurch.
The Centre has hosted 234 events for more than 129,700 delegates since May 2, 2022, generating more than an estimated NZ$50 million (US$31.1 million) in direct economic value for the city of Ōtautahi Christchurch during that period.
He most recently served as general manager of InterContinental Genève in Switzerland.
Prior to transferring to Centara Grand Mirage Beach Resort Pattaya, he was area general manager overseeing four resorts – Centra by Centara Maris Resort Jomtien, Centara Q Resort Rayong, Centara Chaan Talay Resort & Villas Trat, and Centara Koh Chang Tropicana Resort.
Prior to joining The Hotel Britomart, Swan was client value manager with Corporate Travel Management in Auckland, New Zealand.
New Zealand’s national carrier, Air New Zealand, made several key announcements on May 10 at TRENZ 2023, which includes a significant investment in its fleet, expansion in capacity, and future marketing plans, as well as revealed more details about Skynest, the world’s first sleep pods in the sky.
The airline’s NZ$3.5 billion (US$2.2 billion) investment includes the purchase of eight new 787-9 Dreamliners and five Airbus A320neo that will be deployed on its Tasman and Pacific Island services. The investment also includes interior refurbishment of 14 Boeing 787 aircraft and installation of new Business Premier Luxe product. Work is expected to start next year.
It is also in final negotiations to lease another Boeing 777-300ER, which could add 3,000 more seats per week to the airline’s international network. This would bring the total 777-300 fleet to eight.
“Across our international network, capacity is back to about 91 per cent of pre-Covid (levels) and bookings are steady. We’re now at 30 routes, having returned to Bali in March,” Greg Foran, chief executive, Air New Zealand, said during a media briefing.
Within Asia, Air New Zealand’s capacity is at 117 per cent of pre-Covid levels, with Singapore a key hub, particularly for connections to India and Europe. Demand out of China is “rebuilding slowly but surely”, noted Foran, adding that Air China, an alliance partner, restarted its Beijing-Auckland route earlier this month.
Domestic flights are back to pre-Covid levels, where 15,000 seats were added every week over summer. Regional flights out of Christchurch and Auckland have also increased.
“We know it’s not just about bringing overseas visitors to New Zealand but also giving them plenty of options to explore around Aotearoa New Zealand,” Foran pointed out.
During the media briefing, the airline revealed more details about Skynest, where a prototype was available onsite at TRENZ for industry stakeholders to explore.
Located between Premium Economy and Economy, the Skynest is a six-pod configured sleep zone that will offer four-hour sessions for economy passengers to stretch out and lie down. Each passenger will be limited to one session, and each pod will feature a full-size pillow, sheets and blanket, ear plugs, a separate reading light, USB outlet, ventilation outlet, seatbelt, and lighting designed for rest.
The bedding will be changed between each session, and a 30-minute transition time will be allowed for this. The lights will gently come on at the end of each session, and crew will politely wake any passengers who sleep through this.
“We’re still working through the exact details of how the booking process will work, and we have yet to determine the price. At this stage, we are looking at around NZ$400 to NZ$500 for the four-hour period,” shared Air New Zealand’s chief customer and sales officer, Leanne Geraghty.
Geraghty added that the Skynest – designed and to be installed in Aotearoa – will be made available from September 2024 on Air New Zealand’s ultra-longhaul flights, starting with the Auckland-New York and Auckland-Chicago routes.
Air New Zealand will also be investing NZ$30 million in marketing campaigns this financial year in key markets, and continue to rebuild its offshore sales and marketing teams.
Foran added: “Our relationship with Tourism New Zealand is one of our most important marketing partnerships. Teaming up makes every dollar go further to raise destination awareness and it was great to re-sign our MoU last year to promote New Zealand offshore.”