C'Church calls for end to convention centre delay
The protracted process in drawing up plans for a new convention centre in Christchurch is holding back hotel investment and frustrating tourism and business events leaders.
More than two years after the 2011 earthquake, details of who will operate, own and pay for the centre remain unknown.
The delay is deterring much-needed hotel investment with the city suffering an “accommodation crisis” during the summer, Christchurch and Canterbury Tourism chief executive Tim Hunter said.
Hunter partly blamed the delay to a decision by the Government to handle the convention centre process after much of the initial work had already been done.
“What is frustrating is that Christchurch City Council went through the process of scoping the convention centre on the basis that they owned the old building, they would get an insurance payout and would build a new one,” Hunter told Travel Today. “That process was taken over by the government and we had to start from scratch.”
The council even employed Deloitte to draw up a report and formed a steering committee to consult with the industry.
Hunter said he “didn’t blame anyone” for the change in direction and suggested some of the early thinking that went into the project would not be wasted.
But he admitted the process had been delayed and was preventing investors from committing to any hotel projects.
“We have confirmation that we are getting a new convention centre and we have a site but we still don’t know who is going to own it, fund it, and operate it,” Hunter said. “Not knowing that is a problem because people who want to build new hotels want to see certainty that we are going to a get a certain scale of convention centre.
“That is really holding back quite a bit of investment confidence. It is frustrating because we are desperately short of rooms.”
New Zealand prime minister John Key said the location of the convention centre has “theoretically” been identified as part of the CBD rebuild and said negotiations over funding between the government and “interested parties” were ongoing.
While Key didn’t put a timeframe on any conclusion to negotiations, Hunter predicted details of the specification, funding and ownership could emerge sometime between June and September. Once details are released it should trigger firm interest from hotel investors, he said.
Before the earthquake, Christchurch handled 25% of New Zealand’s conference market. It now has a 3% share.
Meanwhile, the PM said Queenstown has identified land for a new convention centre and is undertaking a design and consultation process.
“The council has identified land and the land looks like it could be consented quite quickly,” Key said. “They have not formally come to the Government for money yet but my guess is they probably will.”
Email the Travel Weekly team at traveldesk@travelweekly.com.au
christchurch christchurch convention centre mice new zealand nz tim burgessLatest News
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