TODAY Christchurch City
Council has adopted a new visitor
approach aiming to substantially
increase visitor numbers and set
to take effect from 22 Aug.
The Draft Visitor Strategy
recognises cruise tourism as
having the potential to deliver
hundreds of thousands of visitors
to the region each year.
“If cruise was a country it would
already be New Zealand’s fourth
largest inbound market behind
Australia, China and the United
States,” the document states.
A strategic theme is to
strengthen the gateway to the
city by working towards efficient
and effective provision of cruise
ship facilities.
Since the earthquake in 2011,
the size & frequency of large ship
visits to Canterbury has been
limited as larger cruise ships are
restricted to the port of Akaroa &
required to tender pax to shore.
The report recommends further
investigation to determine the
feasibility of establishing a new
cruise gateway at Lyttelton which
would enable more ships to visit.
