Christchurch to be the next Queenstown in New Zealand?

According to a consortium of investors a new plan to invest NZD$250 million into the Porters Ski Area will see Christchurch rivalling Queenstown for the international ski-tourist dollar.

According to a release by the Porters Ski area the new investors that bought the resort 2.5 years ago wants to build European-style accommodation for up to 3000 people at the foot of the mountain and expand the 700-hectare ski area into the adjoining Crystal Valley.

The plan, which is said to take 10 years to complete, would include more terrain for family and intermediate skiers.

The consortium proposes a gondola up to the slopes from a car park and resort at the base of the ski area, snowmaking on the main trails and a ski trail through regenerating native beech forest down to the village for skiers at the end of the day.

The new owners wants the development to be environmentally acceptable.

In a statement, managing director Michael Sleigh said skiers could drive on sealed roads from Christchurch to the car park, and from there get on the gondola.

The field, an hour’s drive from Christchurch, currently employs 40 staff but hopes to boost that number by another 35 permanent jobs and up to 400 seasonal hands.

He wanted the field to be as big as Mt Hutt, the region’s biggest ski area, which sells five times as many lift passes as Porters.

“It would be great for Canterbury to have another big ski area,” Sleigh said.

Christchurch & Canterbury Tourism chief executive Christine Prince said having two large commercial ski-fields in the region would boost tourism.

“For us to be more competitive, to be offering more direct ski product against Queenstown, would be fantastic,” she said.

“We have a far greater frequency of flights, we’re cheaper and more accessible.”

Destination Queenstown chief executive Stephen Pahl played down suggestions of rivalry with Canterbury.

“We’ve never taken the position that we’re competing with anyone else,” he said. “Queenstown holds a unique position in the ski market and I think we’ll retain that.”

However, plans for what Sleigh called a small, carbon-neutral alpine village at Porter Heights hinge on a proposed land swap with the Department of Conservation (DOC).

“We hope to have that resolved fairly soon – a matter of months.”

The village would operate year-round as a centre for other activities, such as tramping and mountainbiking.

Sleigh told the Canterbury-Aoraki Conservation Board last week that his company would set up an environmental restoration trust and assume financial and operational responsibility for restoring the former farmland near Lords Bush.

Sleigh told The Press he hoped work could start in two or three years.

“I think the proposition is compelling. With our increasing closeness with Australia, it’s potentially not a bad time.”

Redeveloping the ski-field would cost about $40m, while accommodation would be “much more”, at a total of between $200m and $300m, he said.

Posted by Brendon on August 26th, 2009 in New Zealand and Porters