Covid-19’s being described as Queenstown’s ‘‘economic earthquake’’.
As one resort hotelier says occupancy’s falling off a cliff (click here), a major hotel’s about to
mothball indefinitely (click here) and another CBD hospo business has temporarily shuts its doors (click here), community leaders are bracing for the worst impact yet from the global pandemic.
Put simply, businesses in the Queenstown Lakes, Te Anau/Fiordland and the West Coast are in desperate need of cashflow and, without it, there are fears the southern region long used by ‘NZ Inc’ to market the country internationally, and responsible for major GDP injections to the national economy over many years will end up as ghost towns.
Covid-19 coronavirus: Virus is Queenstown s earthquake says mayor Jim Boult
28 Jan, 2021 06:15 PM
4 minutes to read
Other
Covid-19 s being described as Queenstown s economic earthquake .
As one resort hotelier says occupancy s falling off a cliff, a major hotel s about to
mothball indefinitely (click here) and another CBD hospo business has temporarily shuts its doors, community leaders are bracing for the worst impact yet from the global pandemic.
Put simply, businesses in the Queenstown Lakes, Te Anau/Fiordland and the West Coast are in desperate need of cashflow and, without it, there are fears the southern region long used by NZ Inc to market the country internationally, and responsible for major GDP injections to the national economy over many years will end up as ghost towns.
Claire Trevett: The lol-lights and comedy awards of 2020
23 Dec, 2020 04:00 PM
5 minutes to read
OPINION:
The hunt for the laughs in 2020 was particularly challenging. In politics, not much good happened to anyone other than Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.
Her re-election with a full majority in Parliament was the reward for having to contend with all the crap (there is no other word for it, sorry) 2020 unloaded on her desk.
Even the PM admitted she would have been happy to trade in a few seats for a less fraught year.
The election result emerges. Cartoon / Rod Emmerson
But amid the dross there were moments of comedy, sparkles of light.
Representational image.
Photo: RNZ
However one long-time freedom camper is worried low-income Kiwi families will soon be shut out of some of the country s most picturesque locations.
In November, Tourism Minister Stuart Nash announced plans to ban renting vans to tourists unless there is a toilet on board.
It follows years of poor behaviour by freedom campers, many young international tourists, who bought or hired cheap vans that did not have toilets, leaving behind their mess for councils and residents to clean up.
In 2018, the Responsible Camping Working Group was set up after protesters began blocking off parking sites, taking car keys off visitors and complaining en masse to local government.
2020-12-22 06:05:25 GMT2020-12-22 14:05:25(Beijing Time) Xinhua English
WELLINGTON, Dec. 22 (Xinhua) Cycle trails and cycle and walking tourism are more popular than ever, with nearly two million trips on New Zealand s Great Rides in one year, Tourism Minister Stuart Nash said on Tuesday.
A new analysis of data from the 22 trails which form the Great Rides shows an increase of nearly 700,000 trips in the year to February, compared to 2015, Nash said in a statement.
The Great Rides offer travelers a low-cost and accessible way to see the best parts of the country by going off-road. The rides are graded from easy to expert, and offer something for riders and walkers of all abilities, Nash said.