#ExploreCHC Campaign

ExploreCHC, the ChristchurchNZ-led destination campaign profiling the central South Island, measurably shifted Kiwis’ intent to visit Canterbury and contributed to increased travel sales for the 2020/21 summer period.

The campaign, a first step in creating a long-term visitation brand for the region with Ōtautahi Christchurch at its heart, was seen by millions of Kiwis.

ExploreCHC is one of the most significant domestic marketing investments ChristchurchNZ has made to date, done in partnership with Christchurch Airport, and regional tourism organisations in Mackenzie, Mid Canterbury, Kaikōura, Hurunui, the West Coast, Selwyn, Timaru and Waimakariri.

Seeding of the brand began in April, as New Zealand exited COVID-19 Alert Level 4.

“Our intention with ExploreCHC, other than increasing awareness of our visitation offering in key markets, was to help offset the reduced revenue experienced by our South Island business community as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic,” Heaphy said.

Figures from 2018 show Canterbury has nearly 9000 businesses in tourism-related industries supporting close to 70,000 jobs. The same figures showed tourism contributed nearly $5 billion to Canterbury’s GDP.

“We are confident this collaborative piece of work has had a positive impact across the South Island.”

Scott Callaway, Christchurch Airport General Manager of Trade Development, said, “We are pleased the campaign has been successful in shifting people’s perception of Otautahi Christchurch as a key South Island travel destination”.

“We look forward to welcoming Kiwis to the region during the upcoming summer period,” Callaway said.

• 18.9m impressions across multiple media platforms.
• An increase to 21 per cent of Kiwis intending to travel to Canterbury (up 1.62 percentage points from pre-campaign).
• $1m of sales during the campaign period through a partnership with House of Travel, including 1800 flights to Christchurch – an increase of 90 per cent on the same period in 2019.