The city lost two-thirds of its guest accommodation after the 2010 and 2011 earthquakes.
The Covid pandemic also took a toll as many hotels struggled from March 2020 to June 2022 when the previous Government closed New Zealand's international border.
But recent data has revealed international visitor numbers are almost back to pre-pandemic levels.
The hotel industry is now showing signs of recovery with a 9 per cent increase in "revenue per available room" from December 2023 to January this year, compared to the previous year, according to Hotel Data New Zealand.
That has helped to encourage more investment to ramp up the city's hotel capacity.
Christchurch tourism bosses say Te Pae convention centre has also brought a lot of visitors to the city since it opened in 2021.
And more are expected to arrive as big anchor projects, like One New Zealand Stadium and Parakiore Recreation and Sports Centre, open over the next two years.
Christchurch has seen at least 12 big hotels open their doors since 2020, two of which opened over the past two months.
The Quest on Kilmore, opposite the Christchurch Town Hall, opened in late July.
The 42 apartment-style room complex is Quest Apartment Hotels' fourth in the central city, along with Quest Cathedral Junction, Quest on Manchester and Quest on Cambridge.
Drifter Christchurch, a hotel-hostel hybrid concept, opened in a heritage building on Lichfield St in June.
It includes 95 rooms, ranging from individual suites to shared bunkrooms with communal areas including lounges, a kitchen, and cinema.
Meanwhile, NZ Hotel Holdings has consent to build a 13-level hotel on the corner of Manchester and Cashel Sts next to its existing BreakFree Hotel.
The new operation is due to open in early 2026 and will feature about 120 guest rooms, a ground-floor restaurant and a rooftop bar.
It wants to replace it with an 11-storey, 200-room, art deco-style hotel.
Auckland-based property developer, GCO Group, is also seeking resource consent for an 11-storey, 148-room hotel on Peterborough St.
The old Noah's Hotel, which was rebranded as a Rydges, is in the early stages of a $100 million redevelopment. The vacant building was on Christchurch City Council’s infamous Dirty 30 list of properties after the quakes. The planned new 14-storey hotel is due to open in late 2026.
It is understood another four hotels are also planned for sites close to Te Pae.
- By Geoff Sloan, made with the support of NZ On Air
