Thumbs up for Christchurch in visitor survey

By BOB COTTON

Christchurch has received an overwhelming seal of approval from international visitors in a recent survey commissioned by Christchurch and Canterbury Marketing Ltd.

Information was collected for the destination benchmarking survey during March and April this year. The survey is the first of its type conducted in New Zealand, and is based on a successful model formulated in the UK.

"We are very excited by the results," Christchurch & Canterbury Marketing CEO Darryll Park said.

"It shows that visitors enjoy Christchurch for a wide variety of reasons, and more importantly, it shows us the majority go home very happy after their visit here, meaning they'll spread the good word about our city and region."

"The survey results showed 88 per cent of visitors will recommend Christchurch to someone else – that's fantastic."

Nearly 600 international and domestic visitors to Christchurch were surveyed and opinions were sought on a number of facilities and services used. These were then rated, and Christchurch scored very highly in almost all areas – particularly in the general atmosphere, the feeling of welcome and, not surprisingly, in the upkeep of parks and open spaces.


Of the 32 different services and facilities covered in the survey - from shops to places to eat and drink, to ease in finding your way around - Christchurch had an 80 per cent or over approval rating in 26 of the 32.

"This is an outstanding result for our industry here," Mr Park said. "It shows we compete very well on the international stage."

Tourism employs 1 in every 10 people and is worth $1.4 billion annually to the Canterbury economy.

Categories visitors found less satisfactory included ease of and cost of parking, traffic and pedestrian signage, and the range and quality of evening entertainment.

Clean streets, gardens, friendly people, the compact inner city, the Avon River, the vast array of activities and the relaxed laid back feel of the city were all common positive themes.

The survey showed that among the main reasons for visiting Christchurch, holidays and leisure were predominant (60 per cent), followed by visiting friends and relations (22 per cent), business (9 per cent) and for English language courses (8 per cent).

Visitors to Christchurch also stay in a wide range of other Canterbury locations, while using Christchurch as a base for their travels. Mt Cook, Akaroa, Kaikoura, Lake Tekapo, Arthurs Pass and Hanmer Springs all featured prominently. Further afield, 62 per centof visitors to Christchurch continue to Queenstown and 46 per cent go on to Dunedin.

The survey was conducted by the Tourism and Leisure Group for Christchurch and Canterbury Marketing, and TLG director Ray Sleeman said that the concept of destination benchmarking originated in the UK, where over 40 cities and tourist destinations participate on a regular basis.

Christchurch is the first city in New Zealand to undertake this style of survey, but it is hoped that other centres will adopt the concept so that we can "benchmark" Christchurch against other New Zealand destinations, he said.

In the United Kingdom the survey is carried out approximately every two years, which also gives an opportunity to evaluate each city's individual performance over a period of time.

Darryll Park said CCM plans to use the survey's results to identify key marketing opportunities for marketing Christchurch and Canterbury, and that it provides valuable background information for other public and private groups responsible for the regions infrastructure and services.

"We have distributed the results of the survey to key organisations that can use the information to improve the visitor experience even more for Christchurch."

Suggested improvements came from 46 per cent of those surveyed, and focused on improving traffic and pedestrian signage leading into and within the city, improvements to Cathedral Square, more shops and longer opening hours, more public toilets and increased bus services.

Negative comments were received from 21 per cent on those surveyed and mainly concerned discrimination against Asian language students, and personal safety in some parts of Christchurch at night – Latimer Square for example.

Christchurch Mayor Garry Moore said it was pleasing that most visitors enjoyed their time in Christchurch, and that the city's "friendliness rubbed off on them."

"But obviously we have more work to do arising from some criticisms, such as racist remarks. This issue must be addressed urgently."

"Safety in the city at night is being addressed with vigour along with other improvements to Cathedral Square," he said.

Christchurch & Canterbury Communications Marketing Manager John McKenzie said CCM has worked hard to position Christchurch and Canterbury as a destination, rather than a gateway, with more unique points of difference than any other region in New Zealand.

"Fresh each day is the promise we are making – every day offers something new and different, something unique and special about Christchurch and Canterbury. We should be very proud of what we have to offer visitors."

"Its vital visitors have the best possible experience here – word of mouth is our cheapest and often most effective form of promotion," he said.

"But we must remain mindful of the fact that someone who has a bad experience is likely to tell more people about that experience than someone who has had a good experience."

Key Results summarised 73 per cent of the visitors surveyed were from overseas with the UK (25.1 per cent) and Australia (22.3 per cent) comprising the largest numbers.

The main reasons for visiting Christchurch were for holiday/leisure (60 per cent), visiting friends and relations (22 per cent), for business or a conference (9 per cent), and for English language courses (8 per cent).

In Christchurch the most visited attractions are all located in the central city and many of them are free to visitors – attractions such as Cathedral Square (visited by 80 per cent), the Botanic Gardens (67 per cent), the Arts Centre (66 per cent), Canterbury Museum (39 per cent) and the Christchurch tram (30per cent)

Almost 80 per cent of visitors stayed in commercial accommodation, with the balance staying with family and friends.

Shopping proved to be the most popular way to spend, irrespective of whether the visitor was from New Zealand or overseas - $46.23 was the average spend per person per day, with accommodation averaging $31.65 per day, and eating out $28.13.

Visitors were very complimentary in respect of Christchurch's openness, the landscape and streetscape, the buildings, and particularly the parks and gardens.

Visitors are predominantly aged between 16 and 34 (45 per cent).

93 per cent of visitors are adults (7 per cent under the age of 16) with most adults travelling either by themselves or together with one other adult.

Major forms of transport used to reach Christchurch were air travel (54 per cent) and car/van/motorcycle (26 per cent).

- CHRISTCHURCH STAR