Friday 9 July 2004

Hot Pools Hot Spot For Holidays

One of New Zealand’s largest tourism attractions is the hot spot for families these school holidays with visitor numbers already up by more than 10% on the same time last year.

More than half a million visitors in total will take a plunge at the Hanmer Springs Thermal Reserve in North Canterbury this year.

“Last year over the first weekend and four days of the school break more than 12 000 visited the Reserve. This year, in the six days from Saturday to Thursday, we had nearly 14 000 customers through the gates, says General Manager, Graeme Abbot.

“The warm weather in the alpine village can take some of the credit. Also one of the key attractions drawing families to the Hanmer Springs Thermal Reserve is the waterslides and children’s activity area. The blow-up obstacle course, erected in the fresh water pool from 10am until 12pm daily is also proving very popular. “

Graeme Abbot says the mix of visitor attractions in the Hurunui District is an appeal to families and many will head to the pools and then go off cycling, walking, ski-ing, jetboating to name but a few.

“The tourism sector in Hurunui tends to work collaboratively as we all need each other to succeed and that’s one of the realities of smaller tourism destinations such as Hurunui. We may not have a large population but we have a long list of attractions to continue to pull in the visitor dollar.”

Facts and figures

The Hanmer Springs Thermal Reserve is local 90 minutes north of Christchurch.

It has been operating for 125 years.

500 000 people will visit the Thermal Reserve this year.

23% of visitors are international tourists. 60% of visitors are from within the Canterbury region.

The Hanmer Springs Thermal Reserve was a finalist in the New Zealand Tourism Awards in 1999, 2000, 2002 and 2003.

It was the winner of the New Zealand Tourism People’s Choice for 2002 and 2003.

There are a total of 2400 beds available in 37 accommodation providers in the area.

There are 30 visitor attractions and 22 cafes and restaurants in the area.

89% of all tourists who visit the area visit the Thermal Reserve.

ENDS

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