FOUR hotels in Christchurch are scheduled to reopen by year-end after repairing damage wrought by the 2011 earthquake, bringing the number of hotels in the city’s three- and four-star segments to 19.
Heritage Christchurch’s Old Government Building will open its doors in May while Rendezvous Hotel Christchurch will welcome guests in the second quarter. Novotel Christchurch will resume operations in September and Latimer Hotel Christchurch in late 2013, said Tim Hunter, CEO, Christchurch & Canterbury Tourism.
Panorama Tours Malaysia’s head of outbound tours, Nick Chong, said having the refreshed products would appeal to guests, adding that he is selling sightseeing tours combining Christchurch and Queenstown as part of an 11-day itinerary combining the North and South Islands.
Hunter said that Christchurch and Canterbury Tourism were hammering out details of a collaboration with Singapore Airlines to get more family traffic for this winter season. The airline runs daily Singapore-Christchurch flights.
Christchurch International Airport has also commited to help fund marketing efforts to boost winter holiday traffic to the South Island of New Zealand.
