Buyers and other delegates attending the MEETINGS 2022 business events trade show in Christchurch have been greatly impressed with the show, the flawless organisation behind it and the stunning venue: brand new convention centre, Te Pae Christchurch.
MEETINGS 2022, which finished with a Gala Celebration last night, was the first international exhibition to be held at Te Pae. A record number of exhibitors from 18 regions across 211 stands attended, along with over 400 buyers, including 110 from Australia.
The conference deployed all the new venue’s expansive and impressively designed spaces, including the exhibition hall, auditorium, meeting rooms and banqueting rooms overlooking the Ōtakaro Avon River.
As well as being beautiful, Te Pae is easy to get around, carefully designed and purpose-built to cater to the full range of event requirements. Its main auditorium seats 1400, its exhibition hall can accommodate over 200 booths and its banquet hall can comfortably seat 1000 people. Combined with smaller meeting rooms and generous pre-function space, Te Pae Christchurch allows the South Island’s largest city to host big international conferences in its heard, easily walkable to all the main city attractions.
No one is prouder of Te Pae than its general manager, Ross Steele, who showed media around the venue during MEETINGS 2022.
Steele, an Australian who ran Cairns Convention Centre for over a decade, said Te Pae had just been named as a finalist in the International Association of Convention Centres (AIPC) Innovation Award.
Te Pae is in good company, named alongside six venues from some of the world’s leading conference destinations, including Vienna, Paris, Québec and Taipei.
The Centre is the only New Zealand venue shortlisted and joins fellow ASM Global venue ICC Sydney in the prestigious list.
“To be named as a finalist alongside some of the world’s top business event venues and destinations is an incredible achievement for a new venue,” Steele said.
“We’re so proud to be putting Te Pae Christchurch and Ōtautahi Christchurch on the world stage,” he said.
Te Pae qualified for its Taste of Te Pae Activation Hub initiative, launched in response to Covid-related delays. It featured a food truck, as well as activation areas with interactive displays, a virtual reality dome and information about the Centre’s design, cultural narrative and role in the community.
Through to October 2024, Te Pae has nearly 146 events scheduled, which will bring close to 150,000 people to Christchurch and generate more than NZ$74 million in direct economic value. This includes 88 conferences, 23 of which are international.
Beyond Te Pae, ChristchurchNZ Business Events has over 100 business partners focused on the business events market. This collaborative network of partners spans a range of venues, accommodation, event service suppliers, attractions and activities, who work together to ensure optimal outcomes for business events clients coming to Christchurch.
The Business Events team at ChristchurchNZ has been involved with 22 successful bids in the 2021/22 financial year. Combined, these are forecast to produce an estimated visitor spend of about NZ$15 million.
Quick facts on Ōtautahi Christchurch:
- Second largest city and airport in New Zealand
- Population: 500,000
- 2500 hotel rooms within short walk of Te Pae and other venues, and a total of 5500 rooms across the compact city
- 80km of city walking tracks
- Close to 800 parks and green spaces
- Beautiful city centre intersected by a river, with public spaces and urban amenities.
There are currently 92 flights weekly between Christchurch and Australia, including Sydney, Melbourne, Gold Coast and Brisbane, with a seasonal flight to Perth.
From the time borders open fully, Christchurch will have flights linking eastern seaboard Australia cities with convenient schedules and convenient international connectivity, plus daily flights from Singapore and Dubai.
Written by Peter Needham
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