Innovative scheme to promote Chch

Press, 5 December 1989, Page 40

Innovative scheme to promote Chch

Going for Goals and New Zealand Post have combined in an innova-: tive scheme to attract more visitors to Christchurch.

This week 145,000 lazy letters will be delivered to Christchurch households by New Zealand Post. They will also be available from Post Shops and, next Saturday morning a special Fastpost drop will be made by Garden City Helicopters to New Brighton and Northlands and Sydenham malls. ■ The drop will be made between 10 a.m. and 10.45 a.m. Tui Short from the Going for Goals team will be dressed in a postie’s uniform for the event.

A hand delivery of lazy letters will also be made to the Hornby mall on Saturday morning. Lazy letters were designed especially for those people who find it difficult to put pen to paper and maintain contact with friends and relations. It is a partiallywritten letter, usually in a humorous vein. It is only necessary to tick a series of multiple choice statements as they apply to the sender. Lazy letters are frequently used as an

alternative form of postcard from people on holiday.

Recently Going for Goals Tourist Action Team members, Ken Taylor, Stuart Mac Diarmid and Jeff Mclntyre adapted the lazy letter concept for a short term project to attract more tourists to Christchurch.

The lazy letter consists of four parts: • A personal invitation to visit Christchurch sent by the originator, with a calendar of activities through the summer. • A reply in lazy letter format sent by the recipient.

• Entry form for a draw sent by the recipient.

• Coupons offering Christchurch goods, services and venues likely to be of interest to the visitor.

“The goal is for Christchurch people to fill out the letters and send them to friends or acquaintances outside the city,” Mr Ken Taylor says. “It is expected that the personal invitation willmotivate the recipient to visit Christchurch and renew contact with the sender. As well as the

direct personal benefit gained by such a visit, the money spent by the visitor in Christchurch will help boost the local economy and provide more jobs in the short term until more long term measures can be put into effect.” , The — letter will list transport options for travelling to Christchurch. A 30 per cent response is expected from the lazy letter project according to the Going for Goals Tourist Action Team. "In real terms about 43,000 lazy letters will be sent to potential visitors and we would expect an additional 20,000 visitors to Christchurch during the summer. This should inject about $4.2 million into the local economy,” Mr Taylor says. “One interesting aspect of the lazy letter project is that there seems to have been no similarscheme employed anywhere else. It is certainly new to Christchurch.”