News release
25 May 2015
Paediatric surgeons to conference in Christchurch
Christchurch has won the right to host the Pacific Association of Pediatric Surgeons (PAPS)
meeting in March 2019.
The event will bring at least 300 delegates to the city. It follows the Asia-Oceania Conference of
Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine in November 2018, with 800 delegates.
Christchurch and Canterbury Convention Bureau manager Caroline Blanchfield says these
conference wins signal a surge of interest in Christchurch as a meeting destination.
“The PAPs meeting is just one of more than 15 large conferences we know are ready to book
Christchurch in the next five years to provide a huge economic boost for the region,” she says.
The Convention Bureau partnered with Tourism New Zealand (TNZ) to prepare the winning bid,
presented by Christchurch-based organising chairman Professor Spencer Beasley at the PAPS
2015 conference in South Korea last week.
Professor Beasley is Clinical Director of the Department of Paediatric Surgery at Christchurch
Hospital, and Professor of Paediatric Surgery at the University of Otago, Christchurch.
“Working with Tourism New Zealand’s specialist business events team and targeting sectors
where our region excels is winning business for Christchurch,” Caroline Blanchfield says.
“Enthusiastic conference heroes like Professor Beasley are helping the city win these prestigious
events.”
Professor Beasley applauds the Bureau and TNZ International Business Events for the assistance
and support they provided.
“It meant we could be highly professional in our bid. I would strongly urge other groups who see
an opportunity to bring conferences to Christchurch to enlist their support as well. They have a
strong knowledge base, broad network of contacts and the ability to put together a proposal
with ease. There is no doubt that having the conference in Christchurch will increase the
exposure and reputation of our city as a viable option for this type of event following the
devastation of the earthquakes,” he says.
“The Australian and New Zealand Association of Paediatric Surgeons have now indicated that
they will meet at the same time as PAPS in Christchurch, which will bring even more people to
our region. Obviously, this is a big shot in the arm for all of us in Christchurch as we get the city
up and running again.
“As many of the delegates will be coming from the United States, Canada, Japan and China we
are encouraging them to bring their families and, after the conference has finished, to spend
additional time in New Zealand making the most of the scenic and cultural opportunities here. I
have been reminding them that if they are going to come all this distance they may as well make
a proper holiday of it,” Professor Beasley says.
The bid’s success was also an acknowledgement of the international standing of the paediatric
surgery service based in Christchurch. The 2011 earthquakes destroyed the Department of
Paediatric Surgery laboratory research programme at Christchurch Hospital, but despite that its
academic and teaching reputation has been sustained. The Christchurch service has a team of
four specialist paediatric surgeons and two registrars who provide a regional outreach service to
all seven public hospitals in New Zealand’s South Island, serving a population of more than one
million people. Their scope of practice includes non-cardiac thoracic, general and urological
surgery in infants and children.
TNZ International Business Events Manager Bjoern Spreitzer says events such as this provide a
huge opportunity to grow the value of visitors to New Zealand.
"This is what our work in this sector is all about, attracting people to New Zealand for business
and knowledge exchange who previously might not have visited. They bring their expertise to
New Zealand and we are encouraging them to explore further and make a holiday of it."
For more details about business events in New Zealand and Tourism New Zealand’s Conference
Assistance Programme (CAP) visit www.businessevents.newzealand.com.
For more information about conferencing in Christchurch visit
www.christchurchconventions.com.
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For further information, please contact:
Anabel Darby
Tel: +64 21 668 090
Email: anabel@darby.pro