Air New Zealand show drives record visitor numbers
Canterbury Museum has achieved all-time record visitor numbers for two successive months thanks to the Air New Zealand
75 Years exhibition which opened on 17 September.
Both September with 48,879 visitors and October with 63,815 visitors, beat the previous records for those months, set in
2015 and 2008 respectively, by almost 2,000 additional visitors.
Museum Director Anthony Wright says Air New Zealand 75 Years is a fantastic exhibition, extending across the Museum’s
two large temporary galleries on the ground floor.
“It really does have something for everyone. Visitors can travel back to the days of pioneering flights and the daring
aviators who opened up the country bringing New Zealand to New Zealanders and New Zealand to the world. From there it’s
a chance to check out replica Solent flying boat and DC-8 cabins and then to fly into the future - without leaving the
ground - in a four-minute flight in a virtual reality cabin (right).
“The virtual reality cabin is proving very popular as is the chance to design, paint and make your own plane. Followers
of fashion will love the display of crew uniforms starting with the early military styles, through to the elegance of
the 1960s, vibrant patterns in the 1970s, to today’s uniquely Kiwi, Trelise Cooper designs. There’s even a chance for
uniform dress-up for our younger visitors.”
Air New Zealand General Manager Global Brand & Content Marketing Jodi Williams says the airline is extremely proud of its 75th exhibition so it’s fantastic to see it
attracting record numbers to Canterbury Museum. “We also hope many more visitors experience our award-winning exhibition
as the summer holiday period approaches.”
Air New Zealand 75 Years at Canterbury Museum runs until 26 March 2017.
ends