ITC Industry News Bulletin #22

In this week’s Industry News Bulletin, we take a look at tourism in the South Island, with both Queenstown and Christchurch experiencing growth and forecasting a busy summer season.

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Christchurch CBD Awakens

As construction projects inch closer to completion and companies begin to return to the CBD, the Christchurch business community is enjoying ‘a renewed sense of optimism’, the New Zealand Herald reports.

In this in-depth feature article, the Herald interviews a series of Christchurch businesspeople about the current climate, five years after the 2010 earthquake.

Canterbury Employers’ Chamber of Commerce general manager Leeann Watson told the Herald that businesses are now beginning to return to the CBD.

“All businesses had to move out of the central city because it was closed down for a considerable amount of time, so they didn’t have any choice but to go and set up elsewhere,” Ms Watson said.

“What we’re seeing now is those businesses have come back and are coming back.”

Christchurch’s regeneration is a positive sign for the tourism industry, with more people visiting the Garden City each year. Christchurch and Canterbury Tourism chief executive Tim Hunter is expecting this summer to be another busy season.

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