February 8, 2021 • 5 mins
The Queenstown-Lakes District is expected to be New Zealand's worst-hit region when it comes to the economic cost of Covid-19.
Newly released figures show the region is expected to have 9000 fewer jobs by 2022 and its economy is forecast to take a $785 million hit.
This is according to data from Infometrics - just publicly released by Treasury, which commissioned the economic forecasting agency to research Covid-19's impacts on the regions.
The data shows, perhaps unsurprisingly, that Queenstown – the country's tourism and hospitality capital – would bear the brunt of the Covid-19 economic fallout in New Zealand.
Employment in the region is forecast to drop by 28.5 per cent by in the two years to March 2022.
Senior Economist Gareth Kiernan told Tim Dower there are also a number of other towns that could be impacted.
"Mainly the ones that were very heavily reliant on international tourism - so the Mackenzie District, parts of the West Coast, Kaikoura."
However, he says the way the country has bounced back means all of this could change.
"The way the New Zealand economy has been performing has continued to exceed expectations."
LISTEN ABOVE
Newly released figures show the region is expected to have 9000 fewer jobs by 2022 and its economy is forecast to take a $785 million hit.
This is according to data from Infometrics - just publicly released by Treasury, which commissioned the economic forecasting agency to research Covid-19's impacts on the regions.
The data shows, perhaps unsurprisingly, that Queenstown – the country's tourism and hospitality capital – would bear the brunt of the Covid-19 economic fallout in New Zealand.
Employment in the region is forecast to drop by 28.5 per cent by in the two years to March 2022.
Senior Economist Gareth Kiernan told Tim Dower there are also a number of other towns that could be impacted.
"Mainly the ones that were very heavily reliant on international tourism - so the Mackenzie District, parts of the West Coast, Kaikoura."
However, he says the way the country has bounced back means all of this could change.
"The way the New Zealand economy has been performing has continued to exceed expectations."
LISTEN ABOVE
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