Rotorua tourism, hospo businesses concered about exchange rate fluctuations
Photo:
LDR / Laura Smith
The latest Rotorua business sentiment survey shows local companies are not immune to global instability.
Geopolitical volatility was the highest-ranked concern for business leaders, with 43 percent very or extremely concerned about its effect on their business.
This was the first time global concerns had outweighed local issues, such as finding skilled staff, the survey showed.
RotoruaNZ chief executive Andrew Wilson said this showed many business leaders were very connected with their global markets.
Most respondents were from tourism, accommodation, or hospitality and food service.
While these might be less affected by tariffs then export-led industries, Wilson said geopolitical volatility led to fluctuations in exchange rates, which effected the value of a visitor dollar.
"Obviously, when we've got a weaker New Zealand dollar, we look very favourable for international tourism."
He said the key for businesses riding out this volatility was having diversity in the markets they targeted.
"Within those international markets, have you got a good spread in terms of the types of countries you are focused on, so you're not ending up in a scenario where you've got all your eggs in one basket."
This was similar to
other industries, like agriculture
, which was also encouraged to look for new markets.
Wilson said he wasn't completely surprised to see the survey result.
"We've got a local economy, which is quite export-focused, so from that perspective, whether it is tourism or forest or wood processing, what's happening in that global environment is really important for local businesses."
RotoruaNZ began the business sentiment survey three years ago to get a better view of what was happening in the city's economy.
"A lot of banks do business confidence surveys, but we found a lot of the data was aggregated up at a regional or national level, so it was really about making sure we've got a view about what is going on in our local economy here in Rotorua," he said.
Business sentiment was up 14 percent since the last survey in October 2024, but was still a net negative of minus-11 percent - higher than the national figure of minus-29 percent, but Wilson said the trend toward positivity was a good sign.
"Certainly, that advance-metric of the positivity trend up is a really good signal in terms of what we will start to see over the next 12-24 months in terms of business activity."
Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero
,
a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
RNZ News
a few seconds ago
- RNZ News
And the award goes to …
It will probably come as no surprise that beer is still the most popular alcoholic drink in Aotearoa. It actually accounts for almost 1% of New Zealand's GDP according to a report earlier this year by the Brewers Association. But who brews the best of the best? Tina Panoutsos, Head Judge at this year's New Zealand Beer Awards being held in Christchurch tonight, speaks to Susie about what ticks the taste test. Photo: Unsplash / Lucas Santos
RNZ News
30 minutes ago
- RNZ News
Restaurant Month in Tamaki Makaurau
Restaurant Month has kicked off in Tamaki Makaurau Auckland and this year marks the 15th anniversary. Running for the month of August, it's a chance to celebrate chefs, cultures and culinary treats. Over 100 restaurants are taking part with more than 20 events and local and international collaborations. Heart of the City CEO Viv Beck talks to Perlina about some of the highlights on offer. Photo: Unsplash
RNZ News
2 hours ago
- RNZ News
30 percent of people seeking help are doing so for the first time - NZ Food Network charity
New data from Stats NZ shows average household costs went up 6.2 per cent in the last year. Photo: LDR / Alka Prasad A food charity says many New Zealanders are asking for help for the very first time. The New Zealand Food Network said food insecurity had gotten worse since Covid-19 and donations were only meeting about 65 percent of the need. Chief executive Gavin Findlay said the charity, which this week celebrated its fifth anniversary, now supported about 500,000 people a month. "It is tough, we are funded to a certain level of support we can give and we know anecdotally through our network that we're only meeting about 65 percent of the need that the frontline are seeing ," he said. "Everybody's seeing more demand , we've got organisations that would normally deal with 50 to 100 people a day are now doing 220 a day. That's not uncommon throughout the country." He said about 30 percent of people seeking help were doing so for the very first time. "Now we're seeing people who have never reached out for food support before, we're seeing dual-income households reaching out that have never done before," Findlay said. "On lots of occasions people have exhausted their means of support, whether it be their own financial resources or their family or network, and they're just now in situations where they need external help." Findlay said asking for help could be very difficult for people. "Asking for help can be a real challenge, in the environment we're in now it's a tough gig to put out your hand and say 'I just can't support myself and my family, do you have some food to help me with?' It's a tough environment," he said. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
