Te Pae Christchurch Convention Centre has exceeded all expectations for its opening year.

Despite only being operational for seven months due to covid settings earlier in the year, the Centre has more than compensated for its slower than expected start, hosting more than 180 events during that time.

Of those, 62 were multi-day conferences, 66 banquets, several exhibitions, one live entertainment event and the remainder smaller meetings and seminars.

Those events have brought more than 60,000 people into the city and contributed close to $45 million to the local economy.

Te Pae Christchurch General Manager Ross Steele said since restrictions eased in April the team had been incredibly busy.

“There’s been a real pent-up demand for Christchurch as a business events destination. The number of events has just blown us away – we’ve really hit the ground running.”

While the Centre had welcomed several international events through the doors, Mr Steele said it had also been wonderful to have the support of a large number of national and local businesses and associations.

“The support from the domestic market has been really humbling, particularly coming off the back of covid,” he said.

Alongside the direct economic impact generated from the year’s events, Mr Steele said the team were proud to see the Centre making a difference in other ways, such as business growth for the Centre’s neighbours.

Ashleigh Robertson, Marketing Coordinator for Inkster Company, which operates OGB among others, said OGB had seen drastic change since Te Pae Christchurch opened.

“We are just getting people through the door – and a lot of people through the door. And there’s definitely plenty of lanyards – it's an obvious corporate crew. The target market has been great for us,” she said.

“Monday now, because it seems to be a quite popular conference day, is one of our biggest days, often beating Sunday, which is pretty wild.”

The Centre’s suppliers have also noticed an uptick in business as a result of the busy events calendar.

Exhibition Hire Service’s Christchurch Branch Manager, Nicola Ransome said Te Pae Christchurch had been massive for the business.

“I would say it has quadrupled our workload. We've got to the point where we're having to buy more vehicles and employ double the number of staff, just to be able to service the events that have been happening in there. So, it's been absolutely huge, she said.

“It has enabled us to be able to upskill our staff. The types of jobs that go in there, there's a lot more involved….we've literally now just found the time to be able to recruit for next year. So, we've just employed four more guys. We will be training up over the next few months and we're going to be looking to expand our sales and coordination team next year as well, which we just wouldn't have been able to do without Te Pae.”

Mr Steele said Te Pae Christchurch’s future remains bright, as the Centre heads into the new year with a solid events calendar.

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