C'Church residents to put up tourists

C'Church residents to put up tourists
By admin


Christchurch will encourage residents to open up their homes to tourists next summer in a bid to avoid another “accommodation crisis” in the city.

Tourism bosses want to establish a billeting system with residents providing accommodation for people unable to find a room.

The plan is being explored after an acute bed shortage this summer saw visitor centre staff put up stranded tourists while other visitors were forced to drive for up to two hours to find a room.

Tim Hunter, chief executive of Christchurch and Canterbury Tourism, said the billeting proposal will be discussed at a board meeting next week.

“Between January and March we had an accommodation crisis,” he admitted. “Pretty much every night our visitor centre struggled to find rooms for visitors. Staff ended up taking people home and others decided to leave the city.

“If we get stuck again it will be nice to have a billeting program that we will set up through the visitor centres.

“We’ll use the winter to do a bit of recruiting and will have to go out and spec the properties to make sure they exist and are of an acceptable standard.”

The scheme will only kick in after every available hotel room has been sold, Hunter added.

Christchurch city councillors have already put their names forward while Hunter said he too would be prepared to house tourists.

Napier successfully operates a similar program during festivals when arrivals outstrip the number of beds.

 

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