Chch promotion may use personalities

Press, 4 April 1989, Page 7

Chch promotion may use personalities

Auckland journalists may be invited to spend two days in Christchurch later this year, in the care of a city personality in a bid to sell the city as a holiday spot. The Christchurch City Council is still planning the promotion. The proposal is for journalists to be each under the care of a prominent Christchurch person, who will show their visitor around. The host would give his or her personal view of the city, offering a unique angle for a story, said the Associate Town Clerk, Mr Marshall Wright. The combination of tour and personalities would be different from other promotion tours. Mr Wright hoped there could be a radio link between stations in Christchurch and Auckland.

The aim was to give each visitor an enjoyable time while selling the benefits . of Christchurch for holidays. The council would hope for a number of stories in Auckland newspapers and on radio. At a meeting of the property and promotion committee yesterday Cr

David Cox suggested two means of promoting the city. The first was to have airlines announce as their aircraft arrived at Christchurch that passengers' had just arrived in New Zealand’s festival city. Other councillors said Christchurch did not have an established reputation as a festival city and that image would cut across that of Garden City. Cr Cox’s second suggestion was for Christchurch to organise a motor race to be run with that held on the Wellington waterfront. Christchurch could perhaps stage a pre-race race to the Wellington event, he said. That event meant $l7 million to the Wellington region. Mr Wright said a feasibility study on the Wellington race was being done. It actually cost the promoters money in

spite of the $l7 million turnover. Councillors referred the idea to the promotion working party, which was already looking at the possibility of a motor race in Christchurch. The committee approved the draft 1989-90 promotions budget with a total expenditure of 4804,400 and a rate requirement of $614,400.