Christchurch

Intending travellers to Christchurch should be aware that the central city area of Christchurch and some of the City's eastern suburbs suffered damage from significant earthquake events in September 2010 and again in February 2011. The city continues to experience occasional aftershock activity but not on the damaging scale of the initial seismic events.

The status of the city is as follows :

A small area of the Christchurch central business district called the "red zone" remains cordoned off from public access while underground infrastructure is repaired and demolition of damaged buildings is completed. Cathedral Square is currently in the cordoned off area. The "red zone" area will re-open in stages during 2012 as remedial work is completed. Please see map below for details.
More than 98% of the Christchurch City roading network is fully operational and all power, water and waste water services are operating normally.
Christchurch International Airport and Addington Railway Station have not been affected by any of the previous earthquake activity. All public transport systems and networks are operating normally.

ACTIVITIES AND ATTRACTIONS

The majority of our major visitor attractions and activities are operating, however some activities and attractions in the very central city and on the Port Hills to the east of the city are not operating.

For example there is no access to buildings and activities in Cathedral Square. Other key tourism attractions that are not currently operating include the Mt Cavendish Gondola, the Tram, the Christchurch Art Gallery and the Christchurch Arts Centre.

View list of operational City Activity Providers and their contact information (pdf)
Search Activity listings throughout Christchurch and Canterbury

ACCOMMODATION

Although Christchurch currently has more than 6500 commercial accommodation guest rooms, there are some hotels and backpacker premises that are no longer operating in the CBD area.

This is placing some restriction on accommodation availability at peak holiday times or during major events. We advise intending travellers to book their Christchurch city accommodation well in advance of travel. There is generally plenty of accommodation available on the outskirts of Christchurch City and across the Canterbury region.