Christchurch Hotels Gear Up for Tourism Recovery

Accor’s Christchurch Hotels Gear Up for Tourism Recovery
Special Hotel Offers as Christchurch Hotels Given the All-Clear

17 September 2010: One of Christchurch’s largest hotel operators, Accor, has been given the “all clear” to resume full business after last week’s major earthquake. The all clear follows the lifting of the State of Emergency restricting access to the city centre.

Accor has two hotels in the Cathedral Square precinct – Novotel and Ibis – as well as an All Seasons hotel a short distance away from the Square. The hotels were immediately tested by civil engineers in the wake of the earthquake and given the all clear. Since then, they have been assisting city authorities by providing accommodation and meals during the recovery period.

“With the lifting of the State of Emergency in the city, Christchurch is effectively back in full swing and we need to tell visitors that it is not only safe for them to return, but that this is the best way to help the city get back on its feet,” said Accor Vice President New Zealand, Paul Richardson.

“Our Novotel and Ibis hotels are very new and have been built to the most stringent specifications, so apart from minor plaster cracks and some broken glasses, they sustained very little damage. The hotels have actually been operating at almost capacity levels over the past week, housing specialists who’ve flown in to assist with earthquake relief measures, but we thought it prudent to wait till the lifting of the State of the Emergency before we encouraged visitors back to the city centre. Most services, including transport, water and electricity in the centre of the city have returned to full operational capacity, and now businesses, schools and other enterprises are running normally.

“Some areas of Christchurch were more affected than others, but there is little evidence of damage in the city centre, and particularly in Cathedral Square.

“I think everyone was amazed how well the city coped with such a sizeable earthquake and the community has been outstanding in helping out visitors and local families affected by the earthquake. Our staff worked tirelessly to ensure as little disruption as possible, and they made a great contribution to the city’s recovery effort.

“Now, with Cathedral Square fully open along with most of the city’s other major tourist attractions it really is important that New Zealand and the rest of the world knows that we are open for business and looking forward to welcoming people to the Canterbury region. Christchurch is such an important international gateway that it is essential we give reassurance to potential visitors who might be concerned as to the city’s readiness to host them. We also need to highlight that the earthquake’s affect was centred on the Canterbury region and did not affect other areas of the country.”

Mr Richardson said that while there had been some short-term cancellations at the three hotels, the phones had already started to ring again with bookings for the peak Spring-Summer period there was no reason for visitors to delay their trip any further, particularly with the hotels offering special rates for the month ahead. Special on-line rates are available for the Novotel Christchurch on Cathedral Square (from NZ$149 per room per night), Ibis Christchurch (from NZ$77) and All Seasons Christchurch (from NZ$74). Bookings via www.accorhotels.com

ENDS

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