Autumn Events Deliver Major Impact for City

The city’s major events travel campaign drove almost 8,000 international attendees to the city’s events in autumn. 

Recent ticketing and report data from Made for It, Christchurch’s autumn major events and destination marketing campaign, reveals over 157,000 people attended seven major events from mid-April to mid-June, with an estimated 66,256 from outside of Christchurch. With 42% of attendees travelling from out of town, the events contributed an estimated 133,385 bed nights and over $31 million in visitor spending to the city. 

“Made For It celebrated Ōtautahi Christchurch’s pivotal point in our city’s regeneration and readiness to welcome the world.

Harnessing that opportunity and building a diverse events calendar maximised international visitation — a powerful engine driving visitor spend and economic impact,” says ChristchurchNZ CEO Ali Adams. 

“The ‘Super Season’ was the culmination of years of planning and demonstrates Christchurch's position as not only a destination capable of hosting world-class events but as a city built around them, contributing to year-round vibrancy, community pride, economic growth and international profile,” says Adams.   

The resounding economic success of DHL Super Rugby Pacific Super Round where domestic attendance almost 

 doubled the forecast, combined with new data from Repco Supercars Championship - ITM Christchurch Super 440, the Christchurch Marathon, Run Akaroa, Once in a Lifetime, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and & Juliet, shows almost 8,000 international visitors to the city attended the seven events during the two-month period. 

“The Super Season showed Christchurch is now a globally competitive city and sharing that with our Australian neighbours was so exciting. We proved we can deliver big events and incredible experiences by highlighting all this city has to offer the world - our fantastic backyard and passionate community, as well as our rebuilt and revitalised infrastructure,” says Christchurch Mayor Phil Mauger. 

Positioning Christchurch as a modern, accessible and high-energy destination

Targeted at Australia’s east coast and across New Zealand, Made For It positioned Christchurch as a modern, accessible and high-energy destination, leveraging improved air connectivity, world-class infrastructure and firmly cementing the city’s reputation as an emerging major events capital. 

The campaign attracted $500,000 from the Government’s contestable $10M Events Boost Fund, enabling the extension into the Australian market specifically to help to drive visitation around Christchurch’s autumn events calendar. 

The campaign highlighted the city’s full pipeline of city-shaping infrastructure delivery and inaugural events including DHL Super Rugby Pacific Super Round, Repco Supercars Championship - ITM Christchurch Super 440 and the first concert at One NZ Stadium.

“The opening of One New Zealand Stadium and the platform this wonderful venue is for the future of major events here in Ōtautahi Christchurch demonstrates, along with all of the city’s other incredible venue infrastructure, Christchurch’s capability and capacity to deliver world-class experiences at scale,” says Caroline Harvie-Teare, Venues Ōtautahi CEO.  

In tandem with the marketing and promoting of the fixtures, the city activated a raft of leverage and legacy opportunities to build city vibrancy and enhance the impact of the events including the ‘Super Week’ live site, a fan trail linking the stadium to the city’s prime hospitality precincts, signing sessions for all teams, the Women In Motorsport Breakfast, supporting Greg Murphy’s youth driver safety program, and additional cultural engagements like Six60’s house at Riverside Market with various artist signings and merchandise activations. 

“Ōtautahi Christchurch was activated around events to maximise visibility and engagement and create a vibrant, festival atmosphere. All of this activity appeals to international codes and promoters, who see Christchurch in a strong position internationally as a major events host city, and the work that goes into turning a major event into a city-wide success,” says Adams.