Queenstown Looks to Alternative Revenue

As the Covid-19 pandemic closes borders and grounds aircraft around the world, iconic destinations from Kyoto to Amsterdam are addressing the new reality of fewer visitors and looking for ways to reset their local economies. In Queenstown, property prices are retreating from record levels and businesses are cutting costs as they brace for a long summer without the influx of European, North American and Asian tourists. Bloomberg’s Tracy Withers reports on adjusting to life without foreign tourists. The story is published by Indian English-language newspaper, Business Standard.

New Zealand’s Treasury expects the country’s border to stay closed throughout 2021, although the Government says it wants to open it sooner if it’s safe to do so. But with no definitive timeline, the outlook is uncertain, Withers writes.

Queenstown-Lake’s Mayor Jim Boult is confident his town will get through the near-term impacts, and sees potential for alternative sources of revenue, such as film production or education. But establishing those will take time.

“We are well down track of thinking of ways to diversify income, but you don’t do that overnight. Looking at models around the world, it can take 10 years to turn the ship only a few degrees.”

Original article by Tracy Withers, Bloomberg, Business Standard, September 20, 2020.

Photo by Josh Withers.