The Earthquake Recovery Minister says the government remains fully committed to a convention centre in Christchurch.

This after John Key told tourism delegates the cost of the project was starting to get "fairly prohibitive".

Originally estimated to cost $280 million, Gerry Brownlee refuses to say what numbers the government is now considering before a design had been finalised.

"There are many many ways you can do this, and there's a lot of land there that the government owns that is there for ancillary purposes. It's not as simple as building a concrete box and declaring it a convention centre."

Gerry Brownlee says his priority is creating an asset for the city that serves its purpose for decades to come.

"You can compromise things to bits, this country is exceptionally good at compromising on the sort of facilities that they should have, and then on the day they open wish they were in a different configuration."