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This was a rise from the 35% of businesses reporting negative financial effects in March before the lockdown.

The survey was sent to more than 4000 businesses and received more than 447 responses, of which 51 were tourism and travel businesses.

The largest single group of respondents were manufacturers (16%), with the others including accommodation, food, and tourism and travel industries.

Nearly half were focused on domestic markets only, and 34% solely on the Canterbury market.

The data was gathered in early April by Christchurch NZ, the Canterbury Employers’ Chamber of Commerce, Enterprise North Canterbury, and South Canterbury Chamber of Commerce.

Cashflow and finance were the most challenging areas.

“We have no income but continue to pay our overheads and our staff as best we can. We will have to wait and see how many customers we lose due to this, and how many are unable to pay us for work previously completed,” a respondent said.

The next most affected areas were the domestic market and domestic customers (71%) followed by staffing (61%), and production levels (57%).

While respondents thought pressures on these areas would ease slightly once lockdown was over, challenges would remain over the next three months.

Another respondent said the main problem was lack of customers.

“We are 80% reliant on international markets and 20% domestic. We will have to shift that focus to 100% domestic in the coming months.”

As lockdown entered the third week, nearly half of respondents said their employees were unable to work. Only 4% had all staff working as an essential service.

If lockdown continued past four weeks, the respondents who expected significant negative financial impact rose to 87%, with further negative effect expected on employee wellbeing.

Most businesses asked for further financial support – wage subsidies, cashflow support, lease holidays or rent support.

Others sought business advice, tax relief, marketing support, and funding for research and development (R&D), which they said would better prepare them for exit from lockdown because they might have new products to bring to the market.

Leeann Watson, Canterbury Employers’ Chamber of Commerce chief executive, said she had engaged with thousands of businesses over the past three weeks through their Covid-19 advice line, webinars and over email.

She said the survey results supported the sentiment of the businesses they had been supporting and offering advice to.

“The need for ongoing financial support and advice for businesses is essential. Moving to alert level 3 where we can increase our economic activity in a safe environment will certainly help those businesses who have been unable to bring in any income over the lockdown,” Watson said.

“Of course there are still many businesses who are unable to operate to full capacity, if at all, in alert level 3, which will require further Government support and intervention to ensure their long-term survival.”

Joanna Norris, ChristchurchNZ chief executive, said the results of the survey illustrated the importance of supporting local businesses.

Details of progress towards a Christchurch economic recovery package were outlined to Christchurch City Council last week.

As part of the package, the Chamber and ChristchurchNZ were working to deliver support for businesses, such as business advisors, capability and advisory workshops delivered remotely, and business mentors.

ChristchurchNZ is also funding a new Business Support Subsidy package worth $200,000 to help businesses.

Nearly two-thirds (64%) of the survey respondents were from Christchurch city, 20% from Selwyn, and the remainder from elsewhere in Canterbury.

Most respondents had fewer than 20 employees.

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The economic development agency has launched a $200,000 funding package which allowed eligible businesses to access up to $1000 each to seek professional help to “navigate the economic and resourcing impacts of Covid-19”.

Joanna Norris

The economic development agency said that it is fully funding the package, which comes in addition to other support such as the Government’s wage subsidy and leave payments, government-backed loans, and funding already made available through the Regional Business Partner network.

The new funding would allow small to medium-sized businesses to access advice in business continuity planning, finance and cashflow, human resources, and health and wellbeing.

The move comes after a recent survey by ChristchurchNZ and the Canterbury Employers Chamber of Commerce, which garnered more than 600 responses from Christchurch businesses, confirmed cash flow and resourcing concerns were top of mind, with many also experiencing wellbeing issues.

The survey also recorded growing anxiety about the economic impact Covid-19 would have, and the best course of action to cope.

The subsidy is being delivered as part of a wider business support package during phase one of a Christchurch Economic Recovery Package.

ChristchurchNZ chief executive, Joanna Norris, said: ‘’Our economic modelling work suggests the outbreak will have significant short and medium-term impact on our city’s economy and people. Good advice and specialist input now can make all the difference.’’

Christchurch-based businesses affected by Covid-19 can apply for the subsidy via the Regional Business Partners Programme – details are available at www.christchurchnz.com.

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Loren Heaphy, general manager of destination and attraction at ChristchurchNZ, on the impacts of Covid-19, the city’s economic recovery package and the importance of togetherness in a crisis.

Loren Heaphy

2020 was supposed to be Christchurch’s year.  

The momentum was finally here, the infrastructure was almost all complete, and visitors – but more importantly – residents, saw the city as a place to explore, linger and play.  

Our retail and hospitality precincts were humming, and we were building up to some huge milestones including the opening of Te Pae Christchurch Convention Centre, a direct American Airlines flight service to LAX and of course hosting TRENZ this May. The sense of optimism for the future of our visitor economy was palpable. 

Needless to say, Covid-19 has hit the city hard. 

In the weeks since the Covid-19 lockdown began, we have received many queries asking how Christchurch has managed to get back on its feet as a destination, time and time again. But the answer is that Covid-19 is far different from any earthquake, fire or terrorist attack. Covid-19 is an unparalleled global challenge we must face together as a planet and a country, and not a discrete and sudden event like the many we have experienced in our city.  

In these extraordinary times, an extraordinary response is required, and we must now shift our focus to undertake something that Christchurch had to do three times in the last decade – the reactivation of our visitor economy. To do this we must be  compassionate, cautious and clear that first, we need to protect our community.  

As we end the second week of alert level 4, our focus has been on preparing a city-led Christchurch Economic Recovery Package with Christchurch City Council and its companies, supported by central government, to mitigate the impact of Covid-19 on our economy. The plan ensures support is both fast and effective in the long term.     

The package is divided into 4 workstreams, and ChristchurchNZ has pivoted to support each of these for the foreseeable future: 

• Business Support: This work is primarily being carried out in the short term to support businesses suffering from the immediate economic fallout of Covid-19 and includes activity such as the Regional Business Partner Programme and Business Mentors.   
• Infrastructure-led Recovery Programme: This work will primarily focus on identifying and prioritising infrastructure projects to support the economic recovery of Christchurch.   
• Strategic Economic Development Programme: This work will ensure all recovery activity is aligned to an agreed long-term vision, and positions Christchurch to enter the recovery phase with confidence and in partnership with the private sector and central government.   
• Community and Visitor Economy Activation Programme: This work will focus on stimulating economic growth when it is safe to do so.   

As lead on the Visitor Economy Activation Programme, my team are focusing on market analysis and situation planning – and attempting to align our destination marketing and tourism development activities with what we forecast will be the future for our industry.  

While crystal ball gazing is fraught with challenges, it is our view that long-haul visitors are unlikely to reach our shores for at least 6-8 months, and that our core activity must focus on a scenario-based approach alongside the Covid-19 Alert Levels.

For example, at alert level 4 we will not be undertaking any destination marketing, but at alert level 3 we might start targeting South Island residents with dream phase destination content to support them in deciding to explore their own backyard. However again, this activity must only follow public health guidelines, and be sensitive to the challenges our industry and our at-risk communities are facing. 

Some of the actions we’ll consider over the next 12 to 18 months include: 

• Operator training and support webinars including product development in catering to the local and domestic market
• Extensive local and domestic marketing, encouraging the community to explore their own region and Kiwis to check out their own country
• Partnerships with New Zealand-based outbound travel agents, looking to redirect their clients’ cancelled international holidays to something closer to home
• Targeting new visitor audiences such as multi-generational family groups, New Zealand-based corporates and staycation couples’ retreats
• Development of more localised itineraries that require less planning and allow for safer, socially distant travel
• Better utilising our own local industry contacts and networks – for example the 23 rental car companies that base themselves in Christchurch
• Continued content creation and digital engagement with our offshore travel trade partners and New Zealand-based Inbound Tour Operators
• If public health allows, reinstating our major events calendar to increase community wellbeing and drive domestic visitation 
• Continued and proactive bidding for major and business events in the next 2-5 years
• Continuing to develop a highly sophisticated destination website and creating compelling social media content to drive dream phase planning until potential customers can move to planning and booking

Working collaboratively with our partners in Canterbury, we also see it may be time to do things differently. We are looking to re-work our tourism partner programme and dive deeper into the value we are providing our core stakeholders. The new Covid-19 landscape will require a cohesive strategy from Canterbury in order to ensure the whole region rebounds strongly as a visitor destination.

The response will require a strong brand, clear target markets, a short-term plan around stimulating local and domestic markets, and a long-term plan to diversify markets to increase resilience and rebound strongly – while also looking to create a more sustainable and robust tourism industry within our central city. 

Christchurch is resilient. We’ve made Top 50 lists and global news for our spirit of love, compassion and strength. If there is one lesson we have learned that we can share with you all, it is that now is a time for togetherness. It is a time to innovate, to challenge the status quo, and for ChristchurchNZ to live up to our mission statement of Igniting Bold Ambition for Otautahi  Christchurch.

If you’re looking to liven up your backdrop with some great scenery, we’ve just launched these Zoom backgrounds that you can download for free here – just another way we can drop in some spectacular Canterbury imagery to brighten up your day.

Loren Heaphy,
General manager of destination and attraction at ChristchurchNZ

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