The Star: July 29, 2021

The Star Thursday July 29 2021
10
NEWS
Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz
Council snubs own venue for expo
• By Chris Barclay
THE CITY council’s decision
to stage a technology and
innovation expo at the new
government-owned Te Pae
convention centre ahead of
its own Venues Otautahi-run
facilities is under scrutiny.
City
councillor
Yani Johanson
hoped the Smart
Christchurch
Innovation
Expo 2021
would not create
a dangerous
Yani
Johanson
precedent
as Venues
Otautahi faces
intense competition from Te Pae
when it opens in late October.
Venues Otautahi chief executive
Caroline Harvie-Teare said
it was not aware of a bidding or
lobbying process for the expo
and admitted Te Pae had the
potential to adversely impact on
the operation.
“Venues Otautahi is acutely
aware of the shift in focus of Te
Pae to the local and national
market as a result of Covid-19
border restrictions,” she said.
“Heightened awareness of
environmental issues associated
with business travel and
increased venue supply in
Christchurch at a time when
event demand is contracting
means the opening of Te Pae has
the potential to result in a loss of
revenue for Venues Otautahi.”
The two-day Expo, run by the
council’s Smart Cities Christchurch
initiative, will showcase the
convention centre when it is held
from October 31 to November 1.
“The concern is this will be an
ongoing thing and, in a few years
time, we’re just funding event
after event at the convention
centre while our own facilities
are suffering from a lack of use,”
Johanson said.
He believed the city already
had ample conference space,
given the emergence and longterm
effects of Covid-19.
“You’ve got the (Christ
Church) Cathedral building, a
new function space, you’ve got
the town hall, the library was
bookable function space, the
convention centre . . . I can’t
personally see where the demand
where these conferences is going
to come from, That (view) was
even 10 years ago, before Covid,”
he said.
Like Harvie-Teare, Johanson
said Te Pae, which is run by
United States-based events and
management heavyweight ASM
Global, would now target smaller
events that impact on the town
hall and Christchurch Arena,
key components of Venues
Otautahi’s portfolio and revenue
stream.
“Since Covid, it’s not actually
about the big events, there will
be a few of those, but probably
the greater opportunity is to
poach the events off the council
facilities,” he said.
“It’s going to be a huge challenge
and the worst outcome is
ratepayers and taxpayers pay
to compete against each other’s
venues – the council-owned
facilities against the governmentowned
convention centre.”
Mayor Lianne Dalziel would
not comment, directing The Star
to Smart Cities manager Michael
Healy.
“We’re open to hearing any
feedback and thoughts on where
future expos might be held,” he
said.
“In this instance, being one
of the first public-facing events
at this exciting new venue was a
great fit for the expo, which is all
about showcasing Christchurch
to residents, industry and the
rest of the country as New Zealand’s
innovation hub.
“We considered a range of
venues, as we did in 2019 when
the expo was held in the newly
reopened Christchurch Town
Hall.”
Healy would not reveal the
venue fee for the expo but said it
would not be a cost to ratepayers
as the event was covered by
sponsorship and exhibitor fees.
There are no other councilproduced
events scheduled at Te
Pae.
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