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Quake City features hands-on interactives, videos and treasures rescued from the rubble after the earthquakes. Collectively, the exhibits tell stories of hope and courage from the Canterbury Earthquakes

Quake city is packed with interesting displays and interactives for all ages..

See pieces of the heritage buildings Christchurch lost in the quakes and use LEGO sets to design new structures for the city.

Understand the science behind earthquakes and measure your own quake by jumping near our seismograph.

The hands-on liquefaction simulator explains how shaking liquefies the ground, sinking buildings, burying streets and causing underground infrastructure to rise.

Buckled steel rods from the Hotel Grand Chancellor show the earthquakes’ raw power.

A portaloo door and a water container, donated to a Sumner resident by a farmer from West Melton, are reminders of some of the everyday difficulties many Canterbury residents faced in the aftermath of 22 February.

The film 12.51 features moving interviews with earthquake survivors, while Ripping the Streets follows a group of local skateboarders as they skate broken and abandoned streets.

A recreation of Gap Filler’s bicycle-powered cinema shows the many imaginative projects that brought life back into Christchurch’s empty spaces.

A selection of some of the more than 4,000 hand-stitched hearts sent to Canterbury is a reminder of the support from the rest of New Zealand and the wider world, and an iconic Sure to Rise tea towel featuring Christ Church Cathedral is an expression of hope for the future.

Collectively, these objects and many others tell the story of the Canterbury Earthquakes – a time of great loss, but also of hope, courage and love.

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Quake City  

Quake City, Canterbury Museum's special exhibition, tells the stories of the earthquakes which rocked the region in 2010 and 2011. Discover some of the taonga (treasures) which defined the quakes including the spire of the Christ Church Cathedral and the former railway station clocks. 

Small steps towards recovery for Christchurch tourism

Senior Lecturer Tourism , University of Technology Sydney

Disclosure statement

David Beirman is a Senior Lecturer in Tourism, Management Discipline Group at the University of Technology. Sydney. He participated in the CAUTHE (Council of Australasian University Tourism and Hospitality Educators) Conference which was held in Christchurch between 11-15 February 2013 and much of the material in this article comes from presentations made at that conference and first hand observation of Christchurch.

University of Technology Sydney provides funding as a founding partner of The Conversation AU.

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Last Friday marked two years since the earthquake which devastated the Christchurch CBD, and caused the death of over 180 people. The quake destroyed or severely damaged thousands of homes and businesses.

One of the main economic casualties of the 2011 Christchurch earthquake has been the tourism, hospitality and events industries. Two years on, the challenges remain obvious.

The 37 hectares of the CBD is still a “red zone” with heavily restricted access. The 2011 quake destroyed or damaged nearly all of Christchurch’s larger CBD hotels. Prior to quake there were 4,200 hotel rooms in the city’s CBD. Two years later, there are 1500.

While room numbers in motels, caravan parks and backpacker accommodation are rising, many are filled with construction workers and tradespeople engaged in reconstruction. They are also home to some residents still unable to resume life in their earthquake damaged homes. While motel owners are thriving with full houses, there are few places for tourists to stay in Christchurch.

The 2011 earthquake also destroyed the city’s convention centre, which could cater for up to 2,000 delegates, leading to convention organisers being forced to relocate major events outside the city. Earthquake damage to the city’s main football stadium resulted in Christchurch missing out on the benefits of hosting major sporting events- most notably the 2011 World Cup Rugby matches and the super 12 rugby fixtures of 2012.

However, there is also positive news. In February, Christchurch hosted 200 delegates from 15 countries for the Council of Australasian University Tourism and Hospitality Educators (CAUTHE) annual conference at Lincoln University on the outskirts of Christchurch - the largest conference held in the city since the earthquake. Appropriately, one of the key issues discussed at the conference was post-crisis tourism reovery. Seven of the papers presented by tourism academics at the conference focussed on the impact of the 2011 earthquake on tourism to Christchurch.

In his opening keynote address, Tim Hunter, CEO of Christchurch and Cantebury Tourism , gave a cautious assessment that the recovery of tourism in the Christchurch and surrounds would be far more of a marathon than a sprint.

One indication of this is that the designated red zone is gradually shrinking. The first of the newly constructed CBD hotels, the Christchurch Ibis, opened in late 2012, and several new hotels are scheduled to open during 2013. The re:START mall , a shopping mall of 45 shops, constructed from the shells of shipping containers, is now one of the most popular shopping areas for both locals and visitors.

Vacant blocks created from demolished buildings have been used by local artisans and entrepreneurs as art centres, free libraries, bars and entertainment areas. Christchurch’s “pop up city” phenomenon has earned the city a place on Lonely Planet’s must visit cities for 2013. The historic Anglican Cathedral which dominated the centre of the city and crumbled during the 2011 quake is being temporarily replaced by the construction of a church which is being dubbed the Cardboard Cathedral.

The one major element of tourism infrastructure that was undamaged by the 2011 earthquake is Christchurch’s recently refurbished international and domestic airport. The rebuilt airport terminals were opened just weeks before the earthquake and ensure that Christchurch remains as the key airline gateway to New Zealand’s South Island.

But one of the city’s challenges remains enticing Australian travellers — traditionally the dominant international source market — to return.

While most international source markets (notably the Chinese) were returning to Christchurch and the Canterbury region, the Australian market has remained sluggish. This is despite quirky approaches such as the temporary importation to Christchurch of Australian tourism attractions such as Goulburn’s Big Merino and Queensland’s Big Pineapple .

By September 2012, the number of Australians visiting New Zealand has enjoyed slight growth, but the number of Australians visiting Christchurch and Canterbury was just over half of the pre-earthquake levels.

Two words that best sum up the Christchurch approach to the recovery of tourism are patience and resilience.

The recovery is still heavily dependent on the reconstruction of critical infrastructure, but until hotels, conventions centres and sporting facilities are rebuilt, Christchurch’s major role for tourism is to promote itself as the gateway to the magnificent and completely intact scenic and experiential wonders of New Zealand’s South Island.

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Impacts of the Christchurch earthquakes on regional tourism activity

The city of Christchurch has experienced two significant earthquakes since September 4th 2010, and an aftershock sequence of nearly 15,000 smaller events. Tourism activity in Christchurch and the Canterbury region has experienced an unprecedented downturn in the period since the February 22nd 2011 earthquake. The purpose of this research was to investigate the impact of the earthquakes on tourism businesses, and to assess their level of preparedness for future large shocks. In April 2012, 719 surveys were sent to tourism operators throughout Canterbury involved in accommodation, activity/attraction and visitor transport businesses. The results of this study suggest that changes in visitor type, and reduced international visitor numbers have been the greatest challenges to tourism operations in the region. The results also highlight that some businesses are thriving while others are struggling to recover from the earthquakes. Tourism operators indicated they are satisfied with the current level of preparedness, however several key areas of weakness were found which need to be addressed. Keywords Seismic risk, tourism, business preparedness, Christchurch. INTRODUCTION The tourism sector has experienced significant losses following the Canterbury earthquake sequence, primarily due to damaged infrastructure and extensive global media impacting on the reputation of Christchurch as a safe destination. Recovery has been slow, mainly due to delays in the rebuild of the central city where the majority of hotels and tourist facilities were situated. Christchurch acts as the ‘gateway to the South Island’ for international tourists, with 85% of international visitor arrivals and departures to and from the South Island taking place through Christchurch Airport (CIAL 2012). The earthquakes significantly reduced the number of arrivals at the airport, which led to flow-on impacts for the industry throughout the South Island. The nature and extent of impacts on the tourism industry has been reported anecdotally in the months since the earthquakes, but no research has been conducted to verify these claims. This research was focussed on capturing time-sensitive data relating to the first 12 months after the February 22nd event, and to provide a clear understanding of the state of the tourism sector in the aftermath of the most damaging urban earthquake in New Zealand history. METHODS The aim of this research was to investigate the impacts of the earthquakes on tourism businesses throughout Canterbury, and to provide an understanding of tourism operator perceptions of their preparedness for a future business interruption. A quantitative method was selected to capture data across all tourism operations throughout Canterbury. Two surveys were tailored to address the issues felt by operators directly affected by earthquake damage, and for those in the wider Canterbury region that were indirectly impacted. In April 2012 postal surveys was sent to all tourism operators in the Canterbury region involved with activity/attraction, accommodation and visitor transport (total sample population, N = 719). The response rate for Christchurch (i.e. directly impacted) was 46%, while the rest of Canterbury (i.e. indirectly impacted) was 29%. RESULTS Impacts on tourism businesses The earthquakes changed the types of visitors that tourism businesses receive. The most notable change was the reported decline in the international market by 70% of businesses. Some districts outside Christchurch reported increased numbers of visitors from within Canterbury, illustrating the outflow of Christchurch residents seeking respite from the aftershocks. While some businesses are still struggling, others are thriving. Parts of the accommodation sector are performing very well, with motels and holiday parks reporting positive outcomes compared to all other business types. Three-quarters of motel operators reported increased revenue after February, while hotels reported lower revenue. This result supports the most recent Commercial Accommodation Monitor data for Canterbury Year Ending May 2012 showing a 26% increase in occupancy rate for motels compared to Year Ending May 2011. In contrast, hotels and backpackers were down 54% and 35.4% respectively. Accommodation facilities in the CBD were destroyed, resulting in a significant reduction in capacity, and as a consequence accommodation facilities located outside the CBD experienced a sharp increase in demand. Visitor transport businesses were particularly hard hit. They were significantly more likely to work reduced hours, and only 5% reported being slightly or significantly better off after the earthquakes. Eighty-five per cent of visitor transport operators reported a decline in revenue after the February earthquake. Visitor transport operators serve the tourism industry by moving tourists within and between destinations, interacting with accommodation and activity/attraction networks. The significant drop in both international and domestic visitation was a major blow to this sector. Recovery is dependent on the rebuild of the critical tourism infrastructure in Christchurch, at which point visitors will be attracted back to the city in sufficient numbers to regenerate this sector. Activity/Attraction businesses have also suffered major losses as a consequence of the earthquakes. They were significantly more likely to close temporarily and almost two-thirds reported a decline in revenue after the February earthquake. They were also significantly more likely to report a decline in arrivals from all market segments, particularly international visitors. Activity and attraction businesses are heavily reliant on inbound visitors, especially international visitors. These businesses are often larger than other tourism sectors, which has the potential to make them more resilient to business interruptions, but it also means they have more staff and higher costs to manage when visitors stop coming. Reduced visitor numbers was the most disruptive factor affecting tourism businesses from the earthquakes. Non-structural damage (fixtures and fittings) and damage to equipment were also very disruptive. Communications, electricity and road network issues were the most commonly reported critical infrastructure problems after the February earthquake, and were described as slightly to moderately disruptive. Preparedness issues Many tourism operators were found to be over-confident about their preparedness. For example, while the majority of operators are happy with their current level of preparedness, and feel much better prepared to deal with a future disaster since experiencing the earthquakes, almost half of all operators currently do not have any back up IT facilities. In addition, Very few tourism operators train staff on how to respond to an earthquake. Many employees in the tourism sector are foreign nationals with very little knowledge of the seismic potential in New Zealand. Staff inductions are being used by half of Canterbury businesses, however very few include any mention of how to respond in an earthquake. The induction process has significant scope for building the capacity of staff to cope with an earthquake and thus improve post-disaster outcomes for businesses (Johnston et al. 2007; Orchiston in press). More than half of Canterbury tourism operators have not practiced how they would respond in an emergency. The feedback from respondents to this question suggests that for many smaller businesses, formal planning for emergencies is not a priority because of the small-scale nature of their tourism enterprises, comprising typically owner-operators with few or no employees. Many described informal discussions or plans that they had. There have been slight increases in the number of businesses engaging in crisis and emergency planning, and business continuity planning since the earthquakes. Survey respondents alluded to a lack of time for and interest in developing plans, with many relying on their ability to react to an emergency situation as it presents itself. CONCLUSIONS The earthquake sequence has resulted in significant physical and reputational damage to the Canterbury tourism industry. Eighteen months after the earthquakes inbound tourism data is still below pre-earthquake levels, with Canterbury operators reporting that the industry has not bounced back to where it was before September 2010. Outcomes of the earthquakes on business performance highlight there were winners and losers in the aftermath. Recovery of inbound tourism markets is closely tied to the timeframe to rebuild the CBD of Christchurch. Reinstating critical tourism infrastructure will drive future tourism investment, and allow tourism businesses to regenerate and thrive into the future. A blueprint from rebuilding the CBD of Christchurch was released by the Christchurch City Council in July 2012, and has been well received by tourism stakeholders in the region. The challenge now is for city officials to fund the development projects outlined in the blueprint, and to rebuild the CBD as quickly as possible in order to help regenerate the tourism industry in the Christchurch, Canterbury and the rest of the South Island. "

Related Papers

Resilient Organisations Research Report 2012/09

Caroline Orchiston

The tourism industry suffered significant losses as a consequence of the Canterbury earthquake sequence. The sequence began in September 2010, followed by a significant aftershock in February 2011 that caused an unprecedented and sustained reduction in tourism arrivals to the city of Christchurch and the wider region. This paper reports empirical findings from an impact and recovery survey of Canterbury tourism operators one year after the earthquake sequence began. Results illustrate the different impacts experienced across three tourism sub-sectors; activity/attraction, accommodation and visitor transport. These were largely a consequence of location and degree of damage coupled with the drop in international visitor arrivals.

Australian and New Zealand Institute of Insurance and Finance

Reported commissioned by the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), Report 6.

The Canterbury earthquake sequence began in September 2010, with the magnitude 6.3 aftershock on February 22nd 2011 causing the largest urban disaster in the country’s history. In the five years since the earthquakes in Christchurch, the tourism sector has experienced a structural shift in demand, as a larger proportion of inbound visitors have chosen to arrive in the South Island via Queenstown. International visitor arrivals in Christchurch have been significantly reduced, and are yet to rebound to pre-quake levels. The impact of the earthquakes on the rest of the Canterbury region and the South Island has involved nuanced responses based on visitor market, highlighted by guest nights and expenditure figures. In summary, there is evidence that the rest of the Canterbury region experienced increased demand after the quakes, particularly for visitor services provided by accommodation providers and supermarket/grocery stores. For the whole of the South Island visitor numbers and expenditure fell well below forecasts (even with 95% confidence interval bounds) for at least two years, with the Australian market particularly impacted. In the North Island there is some evidence that the event may have increased tourist demand, at least by the international market, although the results are not conclusive. For the first few months after the February earthquake in 2011, visitor numbers and expenditure rose above projected levels, although generally still stayed within the 95% confidence interval bounds except in the case of the Australian market. Unpicking the impacts of the earthquakes from other influences is made particularly difficult by the timing of the Rugby World Cup in 2011. Perhaps surprisingly there is no clear evidence that the earthquakes caused a sustained negative impact on tourism for New Zealand as a whole, with visitor forecasts remaining within 95% confidence intervals throughout the post-quake period. The disruption of the tourism system caused by the earthquakes presented a unique opportunity to investigate the dynamic tourism demand responses during a major disaster. We used big data in the form of EFTPOS transactions for international and domestic visitors in New Zealand around the time of the February 2011 earthquakes to understand how the earthquakes affected visitor flows around the country. We triangulated our results with analysis of conventional tourism datasets and input from an expert advisory panel. By blending both quantitative and qualitative assessments of visitor expenditure and flows, we were able to produce a causal network model of the tourism sector during business as usual, and during times of disruption. This causal network model firstly provides a theoretical framework within which we have identified and mapped key external factors influencing the tourism sector, and the key interactions and feedback mechanisms generating changes in tourism dynamics over time. Secondly the causal network model provides a foundation for extending the economic impact assessment tool ‘MERIT’ (Modelling the Economics of Resilient Infrastructure Tool), to enable evaluation of the wider economic impacts associated with tourism disruptions. Key findings from this report include: • Patterns of international visitor demand in New Zealand were changed by the earthquakes, most notably the Australian market which for the South Island has remained well below forecast levels since 2011. • The net outcome for tourism activity across New Zealand appears to be relatively small-to-inconclusive, however there were nuanced market responses in Christchurch, Canterbury and the South and North Islands. • International guest nights in Christchurch after 2010 plummeted to well below 2003 levels, and remain below forecast levels in 2016. • Domestic guest nights were also significantly reduced in Christchurch, and remain well below forecast expectation, however domestic tourism in the rest of New Zealand remained within the 95% confidence interval throughout the period 2010-2016. This reflects the localised nature of the damage in Christchurch, and a widespread awareness of the challenging response and recovery efforts taking place over the last five years. As a result, Christchurch is not considered a holiday destination for many New Zealanders. • We present a causal loop diagram that describes the tourism system, including external (source region) factors, the supply and cost of core tourism attractions, provision of tourism infrastructure and services, and the proximity of regional and national tourism destinations. This model includes business as usual considerations, as well as the influence of disruptive events, and can be applied broadly across a range of disasters or other disruptive events for the tourism industry. • The tourism sector is extremely dynamic, as illustrated by highly fluctuating inbound tourism demand indicators (e.g. visitor nights, expenditure) over recent years. Although we have mapped some of the key drivers or influences of tourism demand, it remains very difficult to predict, for any hypothetical disruptive event (i.e. an ex ante analysis), how all of these drivers will come together to determine the magnitude of a disruption and other specific outcomes. Although there is much work that can be undertaken to help firm up the nature of the system relationships (e.g. by defining specific equations and parameters for relationships identified in our causal loop diagram), in practice limited data tends to be a significant constraint. • A method has been demonstrated for using big data (in this case EFTPOS and credit card transaction data) in an ex post evaluation of the impacts of a disruptive event on the tourism sector. When combining this analysis with MERIT, we may also investigate the flow-on impacts of a disruption in tourism for the wider regional and national economies. • When undertaking an ex post evaluation the most important sources of uncertainty relate to establishing the counterfactual scenario that describes how the system would have behaved without the disruption. The longer the timeframe over which we seek to undertake the evaluation, the greater the uncertainty associated with establishing the counterfactual scenario.

Caroline Orchiston , Stephen Espiner

The New Zealand tourism sector is characterized by many micro-to small-sized enterprises, operating within a nature-based tourism context, and facing a range of challenges caused by rapid and slow onset natural events (including earthquakes, volcanoes, and the outcomes of climate change), and social, political and economic factors. Resilience planning measures have been adopted across a range of scales and contexts, from government to destination and enterprise level initiatives. This chapter outlines two South Island tourism industry case studies – one from the West Coast region, the other from Christchurch city – and documents the resilience planning approaches developed as a consequence of rapid change and uncertainty in this critical sector. It builds on the resilience literature focused on scale and rate of change, and draws conclusions about the resilience of tourism businesses and destinations facing both slow and rapid onset disasters.

Business and Post-Disaster Management: Business, Organisational and Consumer Resilience and the Christchurch Earthquakes

Earthquake Spectra

Erica Seville

Caroline Orchiston , James Higham

New Zealand has a history of deadly earthquakes, the most recent of which in Christchurch (2010-2011) has had major consequences for the tourism sector. Tourism destinations affected by major natural disasters face significant challenges during the response and recovery phases. Christchurch lost a large proportion of its lifelines infrastructure and accommodation capacity, and experienced an unprecedented drop in domestic and international visitor arrivals. The theoretical frameworks informing this paper come from the fields of tourism disaster planning, knowledge management and recovery marketing. They inform an empirical study that draws upon qualitative expert interviews with national and regional destination management organisations regarding their experience of the Christchurch earthquakes. The findings of this research highlight the critical importance of knowledge management and effective inter-agency collaboration and communication in the immediate disaster response, as well as during the development and implementation of (de)marketing strategies, in order to expedite medium to long-term tourism recovery.

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Earthquake effect on tourism – Expert Q&A

Over the coming days and weeks the full impact of Monday morning’s Kaikoura earthquake will become apparent.

Dr Caroline Orchiston, Deputy Director, Centre for Sustainability, University of Otago

How do natural disasters like earthquakes affect tourism?

“The response of the tourism industry to disasters both overseas and in New Zealand shows that many international visitors stop coming for a period of time. What we found in the Christchurch case, though, was that although there is some evidence of reductions in visitor numbers and tourism expenditure across New Zealand, much of the impact related to redistribution of visitors and expenditure to other parts of the South Island and even the North Island.

“Kaikoura and the surrounding districts within the damage zone of this earthquake are likely to experience a significant downturn in both international and domestic visitor arrivals in the short to medium term. This will continue until the threat of aftershocks subsides, and tourism infrastructure is back in place. It will take time for visitors to feel safe and positive about returning – their perceptions of safety will be dictated by the travel advisories issued by their own governments, and also the images they are exposed to through the media.

“Because the coastal highway via Kaikoura is likely to be closed for some time, visitors arriving via the Cook Strait ferry will need to access the South Island via Nelson and the Lewis Pass by road, or will choose to fly to Queenstown or Christchurch to begin their South Island visit.

“One likely outcome of the earthquake, therefore, will be an increase in demand in other places. For example, the lower South Island and North Island could experience increased demand from international visitors over the coming summer. Nelson could also expect to be busy with visitors that continue to ferry and drive. Longer term, international visitor numbers will slowly recover as tourists begin to feel safe and positive about returning.

“In the case of Christchurch, some types of foreign visitors were less concerned about the earthquakes than others. For example, the Australian market has been very slow to rebound (likely because of the widespread negative media coverage of the disaster on TV in Australia for many months), compared to the Chinese market, which continued to grow throughout the five years after the February 2011 earthquake.”

What might the recovery be like in Kaikoura? How does it compare to other communities you’ve studied, i.e. Christchurch and the West Coast?

“The Kaikoura District is reliant not only on tourism but also agricultural and fisheries. Access to the township will be closed to the south on State Highway 1 for quite some time, with limited access to the north in the shorter term.

“This will mean the transport of goods and services will be interrupted, with re-routing of fast-moving consumer goods from the North Island via the Lewis Pass and State Highway 7A, which is a significant detour. There will also be implications for the transport of perishable export products out of the district.

“The Coastal Pacific rail link between Christchurch and Picton will also be unable to run for a period of time, with implications for the flow of tourists through the region and linking to the ferry service in Picton. Delays in reinstating road and rail access will be a major contributing factor in slowing the recovery of Kaikoura in the short to medium term. In comparison, Christchurch remained as an entry point for visitors via Christchurch International Airport throughout the earthquakes in 2010-2011, with visitors arriving and departing on their South Island journey without having to stay in Christchurch overnight.

“In the event of a possible Alpine Fault earthquake in future, rural tourism-reliant communities on the West Coast will have similar issues to Kaikoura regarding lack of access by road. There will be delays of many months in reopening State Highway 6 and State Highway 73 due to damage related to landslides and surface rupture on the Alpine Fault.

“One important outcome of the Christchurch earthquakes from a tourism perspective was the vital role played by Christchurch Canterbury Tourism, Tourism New Zealand and the Tourism Industry Association in communicating with visitors, tour operators and business owners during the response and recovery period. Tourism operators in Kaikoura should stay in contact with these organisations to ensure their voices are heard.

“The sooner positive messages about recovery in Kaikoura can get out to potential visitors, the better – but Kaikoura must be in a position to safely host guests, with the necessary tourism infrastructure before that can happen. There is likely to be a period of time when tourism marketing of Kaikoura simply won’t be possible.

“In Christchurch, this period of ‘non-marketing’ lasted six months after the February earthquake. Then, Christchurch Canterbury Tourism launched their ‘South Island Road Trips’ campaign, to help tourism recovery in the regions outside Christchurch while the city wasn’t in a position to host visitors.”

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Another earthquake shakes Christchurch

Christchurch has been rattled by another earthquake on Saturday.

GeoNet reported the 3.5-magnitude quake struck 10km south-west of Christchurch at 5:45pm, at a depth of 4km.

Over 4000 people have reported feeling the quake, with the majority saying they felt 'light' shaking.

It comes after a 3.4-magnitude quake hit on Saturday morning at 10:21am. This quake was also 10km south-west of Christchurch at a depth of 4km.

Around 2800 people reported feeling this earlier quake, the majority describing it as 'weak'.