News Update
May 2019
Summer has been reasonably good to us here in the city but winter is looming and we need to make sure we are all working on our databases and encouraging our customers to come into the city over the winter period.
Our city's marketing agency Christchurch NZ has been working on a major winter business focused campaign to boost winter patronage and opportunity for sales. Each business will have an opportunity to participate at any level they feel comfortable with. We will be able to update you once the campaign has been launched into the public arena.
Air New Zealand are also going to run a countrywide campaign for Christchurch as a destination. Early indications is the campaign is outstanding. We will keep you posted.
There are also a lot of other exciting things planned over the winter period. The new Council appointed city activator has some street based entertainment activity planned for the June/July period. The activation is called Winter Circus and these events will be on Fridays 1 - 2pm, Saturdays & Sundays 12 - 2pm throughout June and July.
Gap Filler are doing work in the street activation space... as is Christchurch NZ... You will need to keep an eye out for these activations as some will be random activation acts that just POP UP!
Businesses doing it for themselves
We encourage businesses to think about how they can activate the streets around their area. There is funding available through various sources to help you implement your ideas so please drop me a line if you have a great idea and just need some help to get it off the ground.
I would also like to remind you that we will also help promote your events through our media channels, so please send through any event or promotion you may be holding so we can help amplify your message.
I also came across a great article on 10 small business marketing ideas for 2019 - some of these ideas you may already be doing but they are always good to revisit or implement if you haven't already. Street Security
The business association continues to assist the Police, Council, Safer Christchurch and the affected businesses to try and reduce the incidences of homelessness and begging. The issues have for some reason escalated over the last month and the businesses are being adversely affected in certain areas.
The Police continue to tell the businesses to report all serious incidents as that information helps Police decide where to place their limited resources. If you do not report it, it is not on their radar.
We are working with the various parties to get on top of this current issue and also getting you the phone numbers of 'who to call' when issues arise outside your business. This also applies to bedding and personal belongings left on the street.
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Business Signboards
There are regulations around the placement of your business signboards. There have been a couple of instances where members of the public have tripped and fallen over signboards that have been incorrectly placed on the street. One particular incident put the person in hospital, which is not ideal when we are trying to encourage people to come back to the city to shop.
Below is information we sent out to our members pre-earthquake - but the placement information is still in force today. Please make sure you place your signboard correctly and help keep our people safe on the city streets.
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Street Cleaning and Maintenance Issues
Snap Send Solve
There is an app you can download from the App Store called Snap Send Solve to help you report issues you see around our city streets.
This is a great tool as the information is fed directly into the council to be actioned. Again, if you do not report it, it will unlikely be on the council radar, so lets all take responsibility for our streets to ensure our visitors have the best possible experience while they are in our city centre.
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Central City Art Tours
Discover 20 Galleries and 20 Exhibitions in Central Christchurch this month in May
The people from Art Beat will be continuing their Central City Art Tours. The city of Christchurch is home to more than 25 galleries with exhibitions by leading and emerging New Zealand artists changing every month of the year. Varying between one to two exhibitions every month this represents more than 300 new exhibitions annually from commercial galleries, artist-run spaces, pop-ups, artists’ studios and public institutions. Central City being home to the vast majority of these art galleries, these tours help bring people back and be socialised with the central city experience.
Established in January 2019, CHRISTCHURCH ART SEEN are inviting people to join their guided tours each week to the city’s galleries and studios. The aim is to help visitors discover and celebrate the vitality of the city’s art scene in a guided tour with arts writer and commentator, Warren Feeney.
To make a booking text Karin on 027 5355422 or email karin@christchurchartseen.nz or go online to check out the tours
(Art tours - $20 per person)
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Wednesday Walks - tourism operators & front of house staff
This is a really excellent trial programme the I-SITE are offering where each Wednesday through May they are offering a guided walk, commencing at 1.00pm from the i-SITE. These are designed for all visitor sector staff to explore the inner city with an i-SITE guide to help them to be better informed of what is around them.
Our changing city is providing opportunities and experiences that are hard to keep up with, this free opportunity is to assist us all in presenting Christchurch to our visitors and residents.
They connect the Explore narrative with on the ground reality and take front line staff through the promenade, the Victoria / Market Square and into the laneways and courtyards of The Crossing, Plymouth Lane etc etc.
If you see value for your staff to take part in this initiative - Registration requested to:
E: info@christchurchnz.com or T: 03 379 9629
Psst - its not a secret, it’s a city