New visitor info centre

The Grand in Cathedral Square will be home to Christchurch’s isite from early November.

The former post office building, above, is currently going through a major renovation and transformation. ChristchurchNZ worked with Christchurch City Council and New Zealand’s
Visitor Information Network (VIN) to consider an appropriate geographic area for the central city isite to be located. This followed the lifting of the Covid-19 border closures, that had resulted in the closing of the previous isite. This work considered future city developments, transport options and also visitor flows.

Visitors will soon be able to get information from the restored former post office, right in the heart of the city. The location is highly convenient for visitors, surrounded by central city hotels, located by public transport, and bus drop-off locations, a tram stop, and near Te Pae Christchurch Convention Centre, Tūranga Central Library, and in the future the reinstated Christ Church Cathedral. Additionally, it is in the central city Wifi free zone.

Expressions of interest to open an isite were received from four parties, and VIN considered submissions, together with support from the ChristchurchNZ urban development team. VIN recently made a site visit to inspect the options and have made a recommendation on the operator and location that best meets isite requirements. The recommendation has three key conditions, including opening no later than 7 November 2023, the first day of the cruise season, and meeting all of VIN Inc’s membership standards, particularly around staffing requirements, systems and signage.

The new isite will be run by experienced tourism operator Darin Rainbird (The Grand), who currently operates the Akaroa isite.