Brought to you by Te Pae Christchurch Convention Centre
New Zealand’s second largest city, Christchurch, is an ideal location for event organisers looking for a world-class experience.
The city has undergone large-scale change in the last decade, creating New Zealand’s newest city, filled with modern infrastructure, stunning landscapes and fascinating culture.
Business events are well catered for in Christchurch, as are attending delegates staying in the main urban hub of the South Island, with all the resources needed to plan a world-class event close at hand.
At the city’s core is Te Pae Christchurch Convention Centre. An architectural and social landmark, it has been designed as the welcoming heart of Christchurch, just 20 minutes’ drive from Christchurch International Airport, which features direct flights from major cities throughout the Asia Pacific region.
Opened in December 2021, Te Pae Christchurch is set to change the business events landscape in New Zealand, offering a nationally-unrivalled modern and uplifting space.
The Centre’s name – gifted by Ngāi Tūāhuriri, the traditional Māori owners of the land – means ‘gathering place’, an apt designation for a place designed to facilitate the exchange of knowledge and ideas.
With a unique architectural and design story, intertwining Māori culture and history with references to the landscape of the surrounding region, coupled with a focus on showcasing a true taste of New Zealand, Te Pae Christchurch provides delegates with an experience unlike any other.
Able to accommodate a range of events, meetings and exhibitions, the Centre features a 1,400-seat auditorium and 24 meeting rooms, up to 3,300m2 of exhibition space and a 1,000-seat riverside banquet hall.
As the first of New Zealand’s new generation of convention centres, Te Pae Christchurch also features state-of the-art technology, ensuring it is well equipped to host in-person, virtual or hybrid events.
Proudly managed by ASM Global, the world’s leading venue management company, Te Pae Christchurch’s global-meets-local philosophy combines the very best knowledge and experience from ASM Global’s worldwide team with local expertise and commitment to manaakitanga (hospitality).
That knowledge and experience is evident in ASM Global’s VenueShield hygiene and sanitisation protocols, developed in conjunction with world health experts and implemented at its properties across the world, including Te Pae Christchurch. Event organisers can be confident the enhanced health measures will provide a safe environment for delegates.
Situated within a compact, walkable inner-city CBD, Te Pae Christchurch is within walking distance of more than 2,500 hotel rooms, and some of the city’s best restaurants, bars and entertainment venues.
With easy access to a multitude of cultural and outdoor activities, Christchurch is also known as the gateway to New Zealand’s stunning South Island, making it the perfect jumping off point for delegates wanting to explore stunning landscapes, or enjoy a thrill-seeking few days before heading home.
To enquire about hosting your event in New Zealand’s newest gathering place – Te Pae Christchurch Convention Centre – please contact the friendly team on info@tepae.co.nz, phone +64 3 266 1400 or visit www.tepae.co.nz
Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam’s reiteration of the region’s adherence to a “dynamic zero” regime on February 8 has added to the worries of local tourism players, who have had their business disrupted by Omicron infections since January 7.
All local tourism activities, such as Hong Kong Tourism Board’s Spend-to-Redeem Local Tours programme as well as cruises to nowhere, have been suspended.
Holiday World Tours, managing director, Paul Leung, told TTGmice that business had started to pick up in late-2021, thanks to the return of cruises. “Now, everything is halted. We are not sure what the future holds. Perhaps nothing will materialise before June,” Leung lamented.
While there is the Come2HK travel scheme that allows quarantine-free entry for non-Hong Kong residents coming from China’s Guangdong province or Macao, Leung said Hong Kong travel agents have benefited very little from it.
The situation would continue to be tough for tourism and MICE players well into 2023, even if all barriers were lifted tomorrow, opined Destination China, general manager and owner, Gunther Homerlein.
He said: “It is the perfect storm of all bad press Hong Kong received prior to Covid – during the political strife – and during the pandemic. Hong Kong has not yet had a chance to reposition herself.”
Arrivals to Hong Kong went from 55,912,609 in 2019, when the destination experienced social unrest, to 3.57 million and 91,000 in 2020 and 2021 respectively.
Homerlein said local tour operators might have made some money, “but most of us who specialise in international business had little or nothing”.
“There is noting that has been done by the government or Hong Kong Tourism Board to help, support or give the industry hope,” he remarked.
Referencing the Rediscover Singapore voucher programme by the Singapore government and the Singapore Tourism Board, Homerlein said: “It was a well directed and managed programme that allowed the industry not only to thrive, but survive. It also encouraged the development of a lot of very good new products.”
Among hotels, Hong Kong’s stance on Omicron has resulted in banquet business losses. Dine-in services after 18.00 have been banned since mid-January.
A spokesperson with Hyatt Centric Victoria Harbour Hong Kong said the property has responded with a relaunch of its Dinner Box Buffet and In-room Safe Buffet, both of which have been popular with guests. These will remain available until March 4.
For now, Hong Kong’s SME agencies will continue to receive financial aid from the government. The fifth round of the Anti-epidemic Fund, announced on January 14, commits about HK$3.6 billion (US$470.9 million) to supporting initiatives such as the Green Lifestyle Local Tour Incentive Scheme and payouts to eligible tour service coach drivers, travel agency staff and licensed agents.
The sixth round of subsidy, confirmed by chief executive Lam on February 8, will amount to HK$26 billion.