Christchurch tourism officials are visiting Australia this week as they work towards a campaign to entice stay-away Aussies back to the city and wider South Island region.
Tim Hunter, Christchurch and Canterbury Tourism chief executive, called on Australians to “be brave” and see for themselves how the city and communities are re-building.
So stringent are building regulations and so prepared has Christchurch become that Hunter declared it “probably one of the safest cities in the world”.
Hunter last week said its neighbour has been the slowest market to return to Christchurch despite the “bravado” of Australians.
Tourism officials are seeking an agency in Australia to draw up a marketing campaign and are visiting this week to speak to a shortlist of companies.
“The campaign will be about education and addressing negative perceptions and focusing on the exciting developments of the pop up city,” Hunter told Travel Today.
The previous campaign last year halved the decline from 28% to 14% from Australia.
“Australia typically doesn’t have earthquakes and when they see the ghastly images on tv it freaks them out,” Hunter said. “We would like to see them be brave. The city has taken a lot of care to ensure anything potentially unsafe has been demolished or is out of bounds. The city is prepared and is probably one of the safest cities in the world.”
Tour operators in New Zealand enjoy Australians on their tours and “have fun”, he added.
“Both countries are very dependent on each others’ tourism,” Hunter said.
The marketing campaign is expected to launch in July or August.
