Hospitality venues across Christchurch are reporting increased trade this week, with more than 29,000 visitors flocking to the region for New Zealand Cup and Show Week.
Cup Day, which was held on Tuesday, is one of the biggest days on Christchurch’s social calendar, that combined with a raft of racing and fashion events for Cup Week, as well as the Royal A&P Show of New Zealand, has meant visitors are in town - and spending.
ChristchurchNZ, Ōtautahi Christchurch’s sustainable economic development agency, estimated that Cup and Show Week in 2022 and 2023 brought in an annual return of more than $8.2 million to the city and generated more than 43,000 visitor nights.
With the Royal A&P Show of New Zealand being held in place of the New Zealand Agricultural Show this year, and the inclusion of Christchurch Spring Fashion Festival presented by New Zealand Fashion Week in the city's events calendar, those numbers are expected to be higher.
Hospitality NZ Canterbury Branch President, Jeremy Stevens, says the events this week have been providing increased trade for hospitality and accommodation.
“There’s nothing better than seeing 'no vacancy' signs all the way down Papanui Road. A sign Cup Week is here and our summer season has begun.
“Many cafes, bars and eateries have been busier than usual with some early reporting of double digit growth on last year."
One of his venues, Aikmans Merivale, had their biggest day of trade for the year on Tuesday, the day of the IRT New Zealand Trotting Cup Day at Addington.
“We anticipated a big day and it delivered. A lot of time and effort was put into promoting this year’s race day packages. We sold out earlier than previous years with 200 well dressed patrons for a champagne breakfast and 240 for our cup day lunch package. With an ever changing forecast we are hopeful for good weather over the weekend to finish the week with a record number," says Stevens.
The hospitality sector has been hurting in recent years, due to a number of factors including Covid-19 and cost of living crisis, and this week’s events have provided a welcome boost for the region.
CEO of Warring Group, David Warring, who has three restaurants in the city says: “Cup Week has always been an asset to Christchurch and this week is only adding to the general atmosphere of confidence and positivity in the future of the city and the region. The future is bright and Canterbury is buzzing.”
The busy week of events kicked off on Saturday 8 November with Barneswood Farm NZ 1000 Guineas Day, and will culminate in the final day of the Royal A&P Show of New Zealand, on Sunday, 16 November.
Stevens says the boost Christchurch was seeing from Cup and Show Week showed the importance of events for hospitality businesses.
“Cup Week is the forerunner to what we hope will be a strong summer season for hospitality in the region.”