Christchurch Airport in New Zealand has announced it will begin work on a second hotel to provide greater convenience for a growing number of international travelers.
The proposed hotel is likely to have between 200 and 300 rooms and will be built in two stages, with the first targeted to open in 2017/18. Christchurch Airport will begin a request for proposal process with hotel brands in the coming weeks as part of the feasibility work currently being undertaken.
Blair Forgie, chief commercial officer – property and commercial, said, “Christchurch Airport is the gateway to the South Island and our aeronautical growth, including 770,000 more seats added by new and existing airline customers over two years, has led us to think about additional short stay hotel accommodation.
“Developing a second hotel at the airport is one way we can set our airport, our city and the South Island up for successfully getting its share of the tourism growth.
“Before the quakes, Christchurch had around 4,000 hotel rooms and the airport welcomed around six million passengers a year. Today the city has 2,202 hotel rooms and the airport is on track to welcome around 6.3 million passengers this year, with more growth to come. The major markets driving our growth are
Australia, China and the USA, and those visitors expect to be able to choose hotel accommodation.
“We’re seeing other airports supporting the tourism growth in a similar way, with Auckland Airport committing to a third airport hotel and signaling a fourth, and Wellington committed to a new airport hotel.”
