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Statistics NZ has today provided the first real measure of COVID-19's impact on Tourism. A third of New Zealand tourism jobs have disappeared in the first year of COVID-19, 25% of owner operators have been wiped out and the tourism sector has shrunk to the size it was 15 years ago. Chief Executive of Tourism Industry Aotearoa Chris Roberts explains how they are coping.

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Statistics NZ has today provided the first real measure of COVID-19's impact on Tourism. Chief Executive of Tourism Industry Aotearoa Chris Roberts explains how they are coping.

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https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/coronavirus-government-to-announce-more-economic-help-due-to-covid-19-outbreak/3RQ7I643JPTYSQK2CHC3P37WJM/

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The Government's next injection into the economy to ease the fallout from the spread of Covid-19 will be discussed in Cabinet today and rolled out this week.

Business representatives and industry leaders from the tourism and forestry sectors have been calling for more help as early figures, released last week, showed New Zealand exports may have taken a $300 million hit due to the global Covid-19 outbreak.

Business NZ, the hospitality sector and the National Party have all been pressuring the Government for targeted wage subsidies similar to what was provided after the Kaikoura earthquake, when a $7.5 million package was offered covering eight weeks of wages - $500 a week per fulltime workers, $300 for part-time.

National Party leader Simon Bridges has also called for immediate tax relief, and tomorrow he will outline the first part of National's election-year economic plan in a speech in Auckland.

Bridges said the fallout from the spread of Covid-19 had put renewed impetus on releasing National's economic plan, so tomorrow's speech had been brought forward.

The Government has already announced $11 million for tourism marketing and $4 million for more advisors on the ground through its Regional Business Partner Network, as well as tax and income assistance through the Inland Revenue Department and the Ministry of Social Development.

Finance Minister Grant Robertson said Cabinet will discuss the next step on Monday and announcements would follow during the week.

"Ministers are actively considering a range of options in response to the impact of Covid-19, and Cabinet will discuss these tomorrow," he said in a statement.

"We have already taken steps to implement the immediate measures suggested by Business New Zealand and the CTU at our meeting with them last week, including the request that Government departments and agencies pay their bills within 10 days."

Robertson said that the export shock appeared to be different to others in recent years, and across-the board tax cuts was not what was needed.
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"A tailor-made response is required. Industry representatives are telling us they are seeing different effects on different industries in different regions. A one-size-fits-all approach is not what is needed."

He said low debt relative to GDP gave the Government a strong hand to play with, and the already-announced $12 billion infrastructure programme would help stimulate the economy.

Cabinet will also discuss waiving the stand-down period for those moving to benefits because of Covid-19, which the Government has already agreed to in principle.

Robertson has met with business leaders throughout last week, and tomorrow is meeting with the heads of New Zealand's major banks.

"It's important that New Zealand works as one to respond to this rapidly-changing situation."

The Finance Minister will also deliver a speech on Thursday to the Wellington Chamber of Commerce Business Summit where further updates on the Government's economic response will be provided.

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Coronavirus struggle: Govt to announce more economic help

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The Government's next injection into the economy to ease the fallout from the spread of Covid-19 will be discussed in Cabinet today and rolled out this week. Business representatives and industry leaders from the tourism and forestry sectors have been calling for more help as early figures, released last week, showed New Zealand exports may have taken a $300 million hit due to the global Covid-19 outbreak.

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NZ economy in the world’s ‘strongest position’ to recover from pandemic

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A report shows the economy is careening forward ahead of the rest of the world – but NZ needs to find a new way to feed the economic beast without the ‘sugar rush’ of population growth

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"Industries like retail, accommodation and restaurants, and transport saw significant declines in production because they were most directly affected by the international travel ban and strict nationwide lockdown," he said.

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Covid pushes New Zealand into worst recession in years

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"Industries like retail, accommodation and restaurants, and transport saw significant declines in production because they were most directly affected by the international travel ban and strict nationwide lockdown," he said.

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OPINION: To say the past 12 months have been volatile for the New Zealand economy is quite the understatement. GDP doesn't measure wellbeing, but it is a useful gauge of economic activity. And the numbers tell a story of an economy thrown around by the virus and lockdowns.

Economic output fell a massive 11 per cent in the second quarter of 2020, as alert level 4 put a lid on spending and stopped many New Zealanders from going to work. It then rebounded 14 per cent in the third quarter as the economy roared back to life. In the last three months of 2020, GDP fell by 1 per cent as the realities of economic life during a global pandemic settled in.

Beneath these huge swings, the sense is that our economy has been incredibly resilient to the impacts of the pandemic thus far. Even just six months ago, the economic tea-leaf readers were predicting that the scars from lockdown would run much deeper than what we have seen so far.

While we can always learn to do better, the Government's strong focus on protecting the health of New Zealanders has helped safeguard the economy. With Covid-19 pretty much eliminated, New Zealanders have had the confidence to get out and resume many aspects of daily economic life.

Government support has also been sizeable and well-timed, no doubt saving many businesses from insolvency in the aftermath of lockdown.

Ultra-low interest rates have also helped. The Reserve Bank rightly judged that keeping people in jobs is more important than the downside of a little more fuel on the house price fire as we work through the economic effects of the pandemic.

The price of New Zealand's food exports in global markets has also been incredibly strong, despite the fact of a global recession. This has supported the agricultural sector and helped keep our economy above water.

While there is much to be grateful for, we should not lose sight of the fact that many Kiwis are doing it tough right now. Economic downturns are always bad for inequality, and the current one is an extreme case of that. Unfortunately, the hard times are falling on New Zealanders with fewer resources to deal with them. This includes less-skilled workers, youth, women, and Māori.

For many businesses - especially in Auckland but more broadly, too - it's a stop-start economy marked by rolling cycles of unpredictability and risk. Many businesses are making the tough decision to shut the door for the last time. There is absolutely no shame in that, and we need to support people directly affected as they move out of the old and into the new.

Over coming months, the outlook is probably for more of the same. It is amazing that vaccines are being rolled out, but we are a long way from herd immunity. So, the performance of our economy between now and the end of 2021 largely depends on how well we control the virus. Preventing wide-spread community transmission remains paramount.

Changes in the structure of our economy will also continue to be a theme of 2021, with some economic activities expanding and others shrinking. Spending patterns have changed massively at home and internationally and our economy needs to flex and adjust to these new realities. We need to roll with the punches.

This is hard gritty work, but also critical if we are to avoid "zombie firms" out of place in the new economy. As the recovery deepens, government support should not tie workers to certain jobs but encourage them out of shrinking industries and into areas of growth.

Beyond the next year or so, the best way to predict our economic future is to create it. One thing is certain: managing our economy the same way we did before the pandemic will deliver similar results - an economy that muddles along delivering poor outcomes for many Kiwis and putting unsustainable strain on the natural environment.

"Business as usual" was not serving us well. Perhaps the biggest risk to our economic future right now is a sense of complacency and settling back into our old ways of doing things. Instead, we must use the disruption of the pandemic to build a more productive, sustainable, and inclusive economy.

A good place to start is tackling the problems we knew we already had. While progress is being made, we need to get on and fix the housing market to deliver more affordable housing and reverse growing inequality. Business productivity needs to improve, so New Zealanders can earn higher incomes while spending less time at work. We need to build skills and innovation appropriate for our economy and drastically reduce the negative impact of economic activity on the environment.

If that sounds like a huge challenge, it is. But if we don't seriously progress this agenda now, then when? We need to come together and double down on fixing these issues. Then, as the fog of Covid-related uncertainty clears, households and businesses will have the confidence to adapt and to invest. Let's get on with it.

Paul Conway is BNZ's chief economist. He was previously director of economics and research at the New Zealand Productivity Commission. He has also worked internationally at the OECD and with the World Bank.

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Where does the New Zealand economy go from here?

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OPINION: To say the past 12 months have been volatile for the New Zealand economy is quite the understatement. GDP doesn't measure wellbeing, but it is a useful gauge of economic activity. And the numbers tell a story of an economy thrown around by the virus and lockdowns.

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The global COVID-19 pandemic had a significant impact on the New Zealand economy. New Zealand has a mixed economy - a free market with some state ownership and control. In mid-March 2020, the New Zealand Government imposed a four-tier alert level system, which placed much of the country's economy into lockdown with the exception of "essential services" such as supermarkets. Due to the success of the Government's elimination strategy, lockdown restrictions on various economic activities were progressively lifted between April and June 2020.

Although somewhat abruptly sidelined from their normal influence within the New Zealand economy, representatives of the business sector continued to feature in media reporting: lobbying against perceived discrepancies in various industries, publicising habitual evaluations such as business-confidence indicators and economic outlooks, and itching for an early return to"business as usual".

On 17 September 2020, New Zealand economy officially entered into a recession, with the country's gross domestic product contracting by 12.2% in the June quarter due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The retail, accommodation, hospitality, and transportation sectors were adversely affected by the international travel ban and a strict nationwide lockdown.

By mid-September 2021, the Restaurant Association's Chief executive Marisa Bidois estimated that about 1,000 hospitality businesses nationwide had been forced to close as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, leading to the loss of 13,000 jobs. This has led the Association to lobby the Government for continued wage subsidies and incentives to boost customer rates. By mid-November 2021, the Bay of Plenty Times reported that 26,774 companies had been liquidated by August 2021.

In early February 2022, the Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) identified the country's border restrictions and declining house prices as the major risks to the New Zealand economy that year. While the OECD report credited New Zealand's elimination strategy, wage and socio-economic subsidies with helping the economy to bounce back to pre-pandemic levels, it also warned that excessive Government spending was causing the economy to overheat and raising debt levels. The OECD welcomed the Reserve Bank of New Zealand's decision to raise interest rates but also urged the Government to raise the superannuation age, ease building restrictions, and reduce government spending.

On 12 August 2020, Aged Care Association chief executive Simon Wallace announced that all rest homes in New Zealand would go into full lockdown immediately until midnight Friday (14 August) in response to a recent wave of community transmissions.

On 22 August, it was reported that about 2.5 million bees had starved to death after workers from Waikato were unable to travel to Auckland to access beehives due to checkpoints imposed following a surge in community transmissions in Auckland. Businesses affected include Waitakaruru Honey Limited. Apiculture New Zealand had applied to the Ministry of Health for an exemption on behalf of commercial bee keepers.

In October and November 2020, the horticultural and viticultural industries reported a shortage of workers since the Government's border restrictions and managed isolation requirements prevented tourists and seasonal workers from entering the country. Under the Recognised Seasonal Employer scheme, horticultural and viticultural producers are normally allowed to recruit seasonal workers from the Pacific Islands and selected Asian countries. In addition, tourists from certain countries are allowed to work on a visitor visa. This labour shortage has caused fruits and crops to rot. Local growers have reported difficulty in recruiting locals due to the long hours, hard, outdoor work, lower wages, and them lacking the specialised picking and plant-care skills that foreign workers.

In mid-October 2020 Richard Palmer, the CEO of the producer representative body Summerfruit New Zealand, warned that the horticulture might not be able to pick up 30% of its harvest that year, a shortfall that could cost NZ$1.25 billion in export earnings. In late October 2020, Horticulture NZ and the New Zealand Apples and Pears Inc launched a jobs service called Pick Tiki to recruit urban young people into fruit-picking jobs in Hawke's Bay, Nelson, and Central Otago.

On 2 August 2021, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced that seasonal workers from Tonga, Samoa and Vanuatu will be allowed to enter the country without having to go into managed isolation from September 2021 onwards. This move was in response to a labour shortage in the agricultural and horticulture sectors.

In late September, horticulture company Zespri had several of its kiwifruit products pulled from Chinese supermarket shelves after a batch of fruit being sold at a supermarket in China's Jiangsu province tested positive for COVID-19. In response, Zespri confirmed that it had launched emergency management plans and that the New Zealand Government was supporting its discussions with Chinese authorities.

On 15 April 2020, reported that many pets included cats and dogs were stuck in transit at pet shipping companies and animal homes due to the disruption of travel caused by the coronavirus pandemic and lockdown in New Zealand. Due to lockdown restrictions, the transportation of pets is not deemed an essential service. Air New Zealand has announced that it would consider reopening its pet transportation service when Level 4 lockdown restrictions were lifted.

On 16 March, the national carrier Air New Zealand announced that it would be reducing its long-haul capacity by 85% and its personnel by 30% in response to declining demand and revenue as a result of the outbreak. In addition to the previously suspended flights to Shanghai and Seoul, the airline suspended flights to several major international cities including San Francisco, Houston, Buenos Aires, Vancouver, Tokyo, Honolulu, Denpasar, and Taipei between 30 March and 30 June as well as its London Heathrow- Los Angeles service. The airline also reduced trans-Tasman capacity by 80%, and the domestic network capacity would be reduced in March and April 2020. It would maintain enough overseas flights for returning New Zealanders and evacuees as well as essential air freight. On 20 March, the Government loaned Air New Zealand $900 million to protect essential air routes and to keep the company operating.

On 25 March, Air New Zealand's chief revenue officer announced the airline would cut back to just ten international and fifth-freedom routes from 30 March to 1 May: from Auckland to Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, Rarotonga, Nadi, Niue, Los Angeles and Hong Kong, and from Norfolk Island to Sydney and Brisbane. The Auckland to Shanghai route would resume on 2 May.

On 7 April, it was reported that Air New Zealand was considering laying off 387 pilots as part of cutback measures. The New Zealand Air Line Pilots' Association (NZALPA), which represents 1520 Air New Zealand pilots, is currently in negotiations with the airline to reduce the number of layoffs.

On 20 May, Air New Zealand announced that it would be laying off 3,500 personnel. This includes 1,300 cabin crew. 950 long and mid-haul crew will lose their jobs while 300 workers will be made redundant in Auckland, Wellington, and Christchurch. In addition, 97 jobs were lost at Air NZ's regional airlines Air Nelson and Mount Cook Airline.

In early June, Singapore Airlines announced that it would resume passenger flights to Auckland and Christchurch on a weekly basis. On 10 June, it was reported that Singapore Airlines staff were being quarantined in hotel rooms for the duration of their three-day stay. In mid-June, Air New Zealand announced that it would be resuming flights between Auckland and Shanghai from 22 June.

On 12 August, following several recent community transmissions, it was announced that all passengers leaving Auckland Airport would be issued with masks while passengers entering Auckland would be required to wear masks. Access to Auckland Airport would be limited to those with valid tickets, travel itineraries and travelling overseas. Social distancing would also be re-introduced at airports across the country.

On 15 August, Jetstar suspended its domestic operations in New Zealand after the Government implemented social distancing rules following a second outbreak in Auckland that month.

On 14 September, Jetstar announced that it was resuming domestic flights in New Zealand after Prime Minister Ardern announced that physical distancing on aircraft was no longer required. The airline had suspended its domestic services in New Zealand four weeks earlier following an outbreak in Auckland in mid-August 2020.

In early January 2021, Air New Zealand announced that its first quarantine-free flight would depart from Auckland to Brisbane on 7 January 2021. Passengers travelling from New Zealand to Brisbane would not need to enter into quarantine if they filled in an Australian Travel Declaration saying they have been in New Zealand for 14 days.

On 25 January, Air New Zealand required passengers on its international flights to wear masks due to New Zealand's COVID-19 rules.

On 23 April, Air New Zealand cancelled a flight between Auckland and Perth after the West Australian capital entered into a three-day lockdown following a local COVID-19 outbreak.

Following a community outbreak of the Delta variant in Auckland and the Coromandel Peninsula in 17 August, Prime Minister Ardern announced that people would have 48 hours to return home. Air New Zealand also announced that it would continue to operate its regular schedule for the next 48 hours in order to enable customers to return to their place of residence. On 19 August, Air New Zealand CEO Greg Foran asked the Government to extend its 48 hour deadline due to the high demand for flights from Queenstown to Auckland.

On 26 August, Air New Zealand reported a net loss of NZ$289 million due to closed borders and disrupted services caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The airline had already used up NZ$350 million of its $1.5 billion stand-by loan from the Government.

On 22 November 2021, Air New Zealand announced that it was cancelling over a thousand end-of-the-year flights between Australia and New Zealand due to the Government's indication that it would not lift border restrictions in late 2021. This cancellation is estimated to affect 20,000 travellers.

On 20 May, building company Fletcher Building announced it would be laying off at least 1,000 jobs in New Zealand and 500 jobs in Australia, amounting to ten per cent of their workforce. On 11 August, it was reported that Fletcher Building was expecting a loss of NZ$196 million for the year to June 2020 due to the pandemic.

On 17 March, Jon Landau, the co-producer of the film sequels, announced that film production at the Wellington-based Stone Street Studios had been suspended in response to the pandemic. However, visual effects will continue at Weta Digital in Wellington. On 31 May 50 Avatar crew including Hollywood director James Cameron were granted entry into New Zealand under a special visa category for border exemptions for foreigners deemed essential to a project of "significant economic value."

On 12 August 2021, Amazon Studios announced that it would be moving its untitled The Lord of The Rings TV series from New Zealand to the United Kingdom after completing filming of the first season. Factors that played a role in the relocation of filming from NZ back to the UK included New Zealand's strict pandemic border management policies which created logistical problems for many international cast members (half of whom were British) and Amazon executives wanting to visit and monitor the production. In addition, Amazon Studios had also heavily invested in its UK studio space.

On 1 July, ASB Bank announced it was closing nine branches in the major centres and that 25 branches will be moving to three-day weeks due to a shift in demand for online services. The branches that closed were Auckland Hospital, Parnell, Ronwood Avenue in Manukau City, Ellerslie and Mount Albert in Auckland, Waikato University in Hamilton, Papamoa in Bay of Plenty, Barrington in Christchurch and Mosgiel in Otago. The company will also hire 150 additional staff to provide specialist online support.

Funeral directors have warned about a spike in violence as a result of people being unable to attend funerals for their loved ones during the Level 4 and Level 3 restrictions.

In mid-September 2021, the fast food chain McDonald's drew criticism from the Unite Union for not ensuring adequate social distancing between staff and customers at their stores' drive-through windows. Under Alert Level 3 guidelines, there has to be a two-metre distance between staff and customers. Other fastfood chains including Restaurant Brands' subsidiaries KFC, Pizza Hut, Carl's Jr and Taco Bell close the window between staff and customers during payment. McDonald's spokesperson Simon Kenny responded that general security measures meant that Eftpos units were wired and secured, making it impossible to completely close the window. Unite Union national secretary John Crocker disputed Kenny's explanation and stated that he intended to pursue the matter with the WorkSafe regulatory body.

By 23 September 2021, the Restaurant Association's Chief executive Marisa Bidois estimated that about 1,000 hospitality businesses in New Zealand had been forced to close as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic since March 2020, representing the loss of about 13,000 jobs. The Restaurant Association also unveiled a "Future of Hospitality Roadmap" which called for the Government to continue the wage subsidy under Alert Level 2, a "lockout subsidy" providing businesses the equivalent of 50% of their weekly sales, a one-off "reopening payment", and various vouchers and incentives to encourage customers to support their local businesses. The Association also advocated "Dine out to Help Out" and "Dine and Discover NZ" campaigns, modelled after similar programs in the United Kingdom and Australia.

In early June 2020, marine engineering company Airmex's managing director Steve Sullivan has warned that about 40 jobs maritime engineering jobs in Nelson are at risk due to the Government's policy of refusing entry to ships as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. According to Sullivan, 40% of the company's revenue came from the international refit business. National MP Nick Smith has also called on the Government to lift the blanket ban on foreign ships, citing the case of the American Samoa-registered tuna fishing vessel Captain Vincent Gann, which was denied entry by Immigration New Zealand and asked to seek urgent repairs in Hawaii.

In late January 2021, it was reported that Immigration New Zealand had denied visas exemptions to 60 hospitality staff aboard the French cruise ship Le Lapérouse on the grounds that the hospitality workers needed to be New Zealanders. The cruise ship had been hired by the New Zealand-owned Wild Earth Travel company to run small expeditions around the country commencing 30 January. Wild Earth Travel Director Aaron Russ criticised the immigration department's decision, saying that this denial of visas jeopardised the travel plans of New Zealanders and that there was insufficient time to train replacement New Zealand hospitality staff. Immigration Minister Kris Faafoi defended Immigration New Zealand's decision, stating that Le Lapérouse should have waited for the department to process its crew's visa applications before sailing to New Zealand. As a result, the cruise line company Ponant cancelled all seven booked tours to New Zealand, with Ponant claiming that it would disrupt the travel plans of 650 New Zealanders and result in NZ$6 million in lost income for businesses.

On 25 March 2020, Allied Press suspended the print circulation of most of its community and farming newspapers to comply with lockdown restrictions. However, its metropolitan newspaper Otago Daily Times was allowed to remain open since it was considered an essential service.

On 30 March 2020, NZME, which owns The New Zealand Herald and radio station Newstalk ZB, announced the closure of Radio Sport with immediate effect, due to the impact of the coronavirus on sport.

On 2 April, Bauer Media Group announced that it would wind up its New Zealand magazine titles in direct response to magazines having been stopped from being published under the Level 4 restrictions. This will put an end to many iconic titles, including , New Zealand Woman's Weekly, the New Zealand Listener, The Australian Women's Weekly, North & South, Next, , Air New Zealand's inflight magazine Kia Ora, and Your Home & Garden, leaving about 200 former employees unemployed. Bauer Media's Australian and NZ operations were subsequently acquired by Mercury Capital, which revived the company as Are Media in September 2020.

On 25 May, MediaWorks' CEO Michael Anderson announced that the company would be eliminating 130 jobs in its sales, out-of-home, and radio divisions as a result of the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Following the Delta variant community outbreak in August 2021, Allied Press suspended publication of the Southland Express ( Invercargill), the Cromwell Bulletin, The Star (Christchurch), and Christchurch community papers due to Alert Level 4 lockdown restrictions.

Increased demand for face masks and hand sanitisers led to shortages nationwide in supermarkets and pharmacies. Following the first New Zealand case of COVID-19 on 28 February, customers were reportedly panic-buying supplies at Auckland supermarkets.

On 25 March 2020, The Warehouse Group prematurely announced that it was an "essential service" without consulting with the Government. When it was deemed not to be an essential service, The Warehouse shut down its brands including The Warehouse, Warehouse Stationery, Torpedo7, Noel Leeming, 1-day and TheMarket for the duration of the four-week lockdown, with all staff being put on full paid leave. The company also faced a fine of $500,000 if it was found to have breached the New Zealand Exchange's disclosure rules with more penalties if the company was found to have profited from a rise in its share price resulting from the announcement.

On 12 May, hardware and DIY chain Bunnings announced that it will close seven stores in Ashburton, Hornby, Hastings, Cambridge, Rangiora, Te Awamutu, and Putaruru with the loss of 145 jobs.

On 25 May, it was reported that the department store chain H & J Smith was considering closing its stores in Dunedin, Mosgiel, Balclutha, Te Anau, and Gore as well as the Armoury Store in Dunedin and Outdoor World in Queenstown. The Take Note store in Gore would relocate but H & J Smith's stores in Invercargill and Queenstown would remain open. A final decision will be made in early June. Dunedin and Clutha Mayors Aaron Hawkins and Bryan Cadogan have urged the company to reconsider their closure plans.

On 8 June, The Warehouse Group announced that it would be laying off 1,080 jobs and close down six stores including The Warehouse stores in Whangaparaoa, Johnsonville, Dunedin, the Warehouse Stationery in Te Awamutu, and the Noel Leeming stores in Henderson, Tokoroa, and two stores in Christchurch ( The Palms and Papanui). In response, First Union coordinator for The Warehouse Kate Davis criticised The Warehouse Group for not consulting with its workers, a charge that the company has denied.

On 21 December, the Warehouse Group announced that it would be repaying its NZ$67.8 million COVID-19 wage subsidy to the Government due to its "confident enough" final position.

Following the Delta community outbreak in mid-August 2021, there were reports of panic buying at several supermarkets including Countdown's Dunedin stores at Mailer Street and Dunedin South. In late August 2021, the two major supermarket companies Foodstuffs and Countdown drew criticism from the public for alleged price hiking during the Auckland 2021 lockdown, which the companies denied.

On 20 August 2021, the Countdown supermarket chain announced that it would be changing its store hours from 8am to 9pm in order to give its teams enough time to restock their shelves following a Delta variant community outbreak in Auckland. In addition, four Auckland stores in Lynfield, Takapuna, Lincoln Road and Botany reduced their store hours after several team members had to isolate following COVID-19 positive visits to their stores. In addition, the Countdown in Birkenhead closed until 31 August after team members from several shifts had to isolate. Countdown also temporarily closed its Auckland Metro stores to allow team members from these stores to support their other stores.

The Alert Level 4 lockdown implemented in response to the August Delta outbreak created financial difficulties for butcheries, which were not considered an essential service under Level 4 restrictions. In addition, butcheries are allowed to perform contactless delivery services but not "click and collect" delivery services under Level 4. In response, Retail Meat New Zealand launched a petition calling for the Government to allow butcheries to open under Alert Level 4. This petition was supported by Beef and Lamb NZ chief executive Kit Arkwright and Federated Farmers' Wairarapa meat and wool chair and National Party candidate Mike Butterick. In early September, Stuff reported that Remuera butcher Richard Hogg was offering "click-and-collect" services to customers in defiance of Level 4 lockdown rules in Auckland. On 9 September, Police ordered Hogg to cease offering "click and collect" services.

On 10 September, pay television company Sky reported a loss of NZ$175 million, down 74% the previous year, after it wrote-down the value of its assets by $178m to reflect the economic uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. While commercial and advertising revenue was affected by the pandemic, revenue from streaming was up by 35 per cent, contributing to an overall revenue figure of NZ$747.6 million. The company had also laid off 200 workers (roughly 18%) of its workforce since June 2019.

In early May, reported that thousands of migrant workers have been left unemployed in the tourist town of Queenstown with no money for food or rent. According to Queenstown-Lakes District mayor Jim Boult, 6,000 migrants had requested welfare assistance from local authorities.

References

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Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in New Zealand - Wikipedia

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The global COVID-19 pandemic had a significant impact on the New Zealand economy. New Zealand has a mixed economy - a free market with some state ownership and control. In mid-March 2020, the New Zealand Government imposed a four-tier alert level system, which placed much of the country's economy into lockdown with the exception of "essential services" such as supermarkets.

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The Business Finance Guarantee Scheme (BFGS) concluded on 30 June 2021, with scheme loans no longer being available. The Business Finance Guarantee dashboard was released fortnightly during the availability period, to provide summary data on uptake of the BFGS.

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The global COVID-19 pandemic had a significant impact on the New Zealand economy. New Zealand has a mixed economy - a free market with some state ownership and control. In mid-March 2020, the New Zealand Government imposed a four-tier alert level system, which placed much of the country's economy into lockdown with the exception of "essential services" such as supermarkets. Due to the success of the Government's elimination strategy, lockdown restrictions on various economic activities were progressively lifted between April and June 2020.

Although somewhat abruptly sidelined from their normal influence within the New Zealand economy, representatives of the business sector continued to feature in media reporting: lobbying against perceived discrepancies in various industries, publicising habitual evaluations such as business-confidence indicators and economic outlooks, and itching for an early return to"business as usual".

On 17 September 2020, New Zealand economy officially entered into a recession, with the country's gross domestic product contracting by 12.2% in the June quarter due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The retail, accommodation, hospitality, and transportation sectors were adversely affected by the international travel ban and a strict nationwide lockdown.

By mid-September 2021, the Restaurant Association's Chief executive Marisa Bidois estimated that about 1,000 hospitality businesses nationwide had been forced to close as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, leading to the loss of 13,000 jobs. This has led the Association to lobby the Government for continued wage subsidies and incentives to boost customer rates. By mid-November 2021, the Bay of Plenty Times reported that 26,774 companies had been liquidated by August 2021.

In early February 2022, the Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) identified the country's border restrictions and declining house prices as the major risks to the New Zealand economy that year. While the OECD report credited New Zealand's elimination strategy, wage and socio-economic subsidies with helping the economy to bounce back to pre-pandemic levels, it also warned that excessive Government spending was causing the economy to overheat and raising debt levels. The OECD welcomed the Reserve Bank of New Zealand's decision to raise interest rates but also urged the Government to raise the superannuation age, ease building restrictions, and reduce government spending.

On 12 August 2020, Aged Care Association chief executive Simon Wallace announced that all rest homes in New Zealand would go into full lockdown immediately until midnight Friday (14 August) in response to a recent wave of community transmissions.

On 22 August, it was reported that about 2.5 million bees had starved to death after workers from Waikato were unable to travel to Auckland to access beehives due to checkpoints imposed following a surge in community transmissions in Auckland. Businesses affected include Waitakaruru Honey Limited. Apiculture New Zealand had applied to the Ministry of Health for an exemption on behalf of commercial bee keepers.

In October and November 2020, the horticultural and viticultural industries reported a shortage of workers since the Government's border restrictions and managed isolation requirements prevented tourists and seasonal workers from entering the country. Under the Recognised Seasonal Employer scheme, horticultural and viticultural producers are normally allowed to recruit seasonal workers from the Pacific Islands and selected Asian countries. In addition, tourists from certain countries are allowed to work on a visitor visa. This labour shortage has caused fruits and crops to rot. Local growers have reported difficulty in recruiting locals due to the long hours, hard, outdoor work, lower wages, and them lacking the specialised picking and plant-care skills that foreign workers.

In mid-October 2020 Richard Palmer, the CEO of the producer representative body Summerfruit New Zealand, warned that the horticulture might not be able to pick up 30% of its harvest that year, a shortfall that could cost NZ$1.25 billion in export earnings. In late October 2020, Horticulture NZ and the New Zealand Apples and Pears Inc launched a jobs service called Pick Tiki to recruit urban young people into fruit-picking jobs in Hawke's Bay, Nelson, and Central Otago.

On 2 August 2021, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced that seasonal workers from Tonga, Samoa and Vanuatu will be allowed to enter the country without having to go into managed isolation from September 2021 onwards. This move was in response to a labour shortage in the agricultural and horticulture sectors.

In late September, horticulture company Zespri had several of its kiwifruit products pulled from Chinese supermarket shelves after a batch of fruit being sold at a supermarket in China's Jiangsu province tested positive for COVID-19. In response, Zespri confirmed that it had launched emergency management plans and that the New Zealand Government was supporting its discussions with Chinese authorities.

On 15 April 2020, reported that many pets included cats and dogs were stuck in transit at pet shipping companies and animal homes due to the disruption of travel caused by the coronavirus pandemic and lockdown in New Zealand. Due to lockdown restrictions, the transportation of pets is not deemed an essential service. Air New Zealand has announced that it would consider reopening its pet transportation service when Level 4 lockdown restrictions were lifted.

On 16 March, the national carrier Air New Zealand announced that it would be reducing its long-haul capacity by 85% and its personnel by 30% in response to declining demand and revenue as a result of the outbreak. In addition to the previously suspended flights to Shanghai and Seoul, the airline suspended flights to several major international cities including San Francisco, Houston, Buenos Aires, Vancouver, Tokyo, Honolulu, Denpasar, and Taipei between 30 March and 30 June as well as its London Heathrow- Los Angeles service. The airline also reduced trans-Tasman capacity by 80%, and the domestic network capacity would be reduced in March and April 2020. It would maintain enough overseas flights for returning New Zealanders and evacuees as well as essential air freight. On 20 March, the Government loaned Air New Zealand $900 million to protect essential air routes and to keep the company operating.

On 25 March, Air New Zealand's chief revenue officer announced the airline would cut back to just ten international and fifth-freedom routes from 30 March to 1 May: from Auckland to Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, Rarotonga, Nadi, Niue, Los Angeles and Hong Kong, and from Norfolk Island to Sydney and Brisbane. The Auckland to Shanghai route would resume on 2 May.

On 7 April, it was reported that Air New Zealand was considering laying off 387 pilots as part of cutback measures. The New Zealand Air Line Pilots' Association (NZALPA), which represents 1520 Air New Zealand pilots, is currently in negotiations with the airline to reduce the number of layoffs.

On 20 May, Air New Zealand announced that it would be laying off 3,500 personnel. This includes 1,300 cabin crew. 950 long and mid-haul crew will lose their jobs while 300 workers will be made redundant in Auckland, Wellington, and Christchurch. In addition, 97 jobs were lost at Air NZ's regional airlines Air Nelson and Mount Cook Airline.

In early June, Singapore Airlines announced that it would resume passenger flights to Auckland and Christchurch on a weekly basis. On 10 June, it was reported that Singapore Airlines staff were being quarantined in hotel rooms for the duration of their three-day stay. In mid-June, Air New Zealand announced that it would be resuming flights between Auckland and Shanghai from 22 June.

On 12 August, following several recent community transmissions, it was announced that all passengers leaving Auckland Airport would be issued with masks while passengers entering Auckland would be required to wear masks. Access to Auckland Airport would be limited to those with valid tickets, travel itineraries and travelling overseas. Social distancing would also be re-introduced at airports across the country.

On 15 August, Jetstar suspended its domestic operations in New Zealand after the Government implemented social distancing rules following a second outbreak in Auckland that month.

On 14 September, Jetstar announced that it was resuming domestic flights in New Zealand after Prime Minister Ardern announced that physical distancing on aircraft was no longer required. The airline had suspended its domestic services in New Zealand four weeks earlier following an outbreak in Auckland in mid-August 2020.

In early January 2021, Air New Zealand announced that its first quarantine-free flight would depart from Auckland to Brisbane on 7 January 2021. Passengers travelling from New Zealand to Brisbane would not need to enter into quarantine if they filled in an Australian Travel Declaration saying they have been in New Zealand for 14 days.

On 25 January, Air New Zealand required passengers on its international flights to wear masks due to New Zealand's COVID-19 rules.

On 23 April, Air New Zealand cancelled a flight between Auckland and Perth after the West Australian capital entered into a three-day lockdown following a local COVID-19 outbreak.

Following a community outbreak of the Delta variant in Auckland and the Coromandel Peninsula in 17 August, Prime Minister Ardern announced that people would have 48 hours to return home. Air New Zealand also announced that it would continue to operate its regular schedule for the next 48 hours in order to enable customers to return to their place of residence. On 19 August, Air New Zealand CEO Greg Foran asked the Government to extend its 48 hour deadline due to the high demand for flights from Queenstown to Auckland.

On 26 August, Air New Zealand reported a net loss of NZ$289 million due to closed borders and disrupted services caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The airline had already used up NZ$350 million of its $1.5 billion stand-by loan from the Government.

On 22 November 2021, Air New Zealand announced that it was cancelling over a thousand end-of-the-year flights between Australia and New Zealand due to the Government's indication that it would not lift border restrictions in late 2021. This cancellation is estimated to affect 20,000 travellers.

On 20 May, building company Fletcher Building announced it would be laying off at least 1,000 jobs in New Zealand and 500 jobs in Australia, amounting to ten per cent of their workforce. On 11 August, it was reported that Fletcher Building was expecting a loss of NZ$196 million for the year to June 2020 due to the pandemic.

On 17 March, Jon Landau, the co-producer of the film sequels, announced that film production at the Wellington-based Stone Street Studios had been suspended in response to the pandemic. However, visual effects will continue at Weta Digital in Wellington. On 31 May 50 Avatar crew including Hollywood director James Cameron were granted entry into New Zealand under a special visa category for border exemptions for foreigners deemed essential to a project of "significant economic value."

On 12 August 2021, Amazon Studios announced that it would be moving its untitled The Lord of The Rings TV series from New Zealand to the United Kingdom after completing filming of the first season. Factors that played a role in the relocation of filming from NZ back to the UK included New Zealand's strict pandemic border management policies which created logistical problems for many international cast members (half of whom were British) and Amazon executives wanting to visit and monitor the production. In addition, Amazon Studios had also heavily invested in its UK studio space.

On 1 July, ASB Bank announced it was closing nine branches in the major centres and that 25 branches will be moving to three-day weeks due to a shift in demand for online services. The branches that closed were Auckland Hospital, Parnell, Ronwood Avenue in Manukau City, Ellerslie and Mount Albert in Auckland, Waikato University in Hamilton, Papamoa in Bay of Plenty, Barrington in Christchurch and Mosgiel in Otago. The company will also hire 150 additional staff to provide specialist online support.

Funeral directors have warned about a spike in violence as a result of people being unable to attend funerals for their loved ones during the Level 4 and Level 3 restrictions.

In mid-September 2021, the fast food chain McDonald's drew criticism from the Unite Union for not ensuring adequate social distancing between staff and customers at their stores' drive-through windows. Under Alert Level 3 guidelines, there has to be a two-metre distance between staff and customers. Other fastfood chains including Restaurant Brands' subsidiaries KFC, Pizza Hut, Carl's Jr and Taco Bell close the window between staff and customers during payment. McDonald's spokesperson Simon Kenny responded that general security measures meant that Eftpos units were wired and secured, making it impossible to completely close the window. Unite Union national secretary John Crocker disputed Kenny's explanation and stated that he intended to pursue the matter with the WorkSafe regulatory body.

By 23 September 2021, the Restaurant Association's Chief executive Marisa Bidois estimated that about 1,000 hospitality businesses in New Zealand had been forced to close as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic since March 2020, representing the loss of about 13,000 jobs. The Restaurant Association also unveiled a "Future of Hospitality Roadmap" which called for the Government to continue the wage subsidy under Alert Level 2, a "lockout subsidy" providing businesses the equivalent of 50% of their weekly sales, a one-off "reopening payment", and various vouchers and incentives to encourage customers to support their local businesses. The Association also advocated "Dine out to Help Out" and "Dine and Discover NZ" campaigns, modelled after similar programs in the United Kingdom and Australia.

In early June 2020, marine engineering company Airmex's managing director Steve Sullivan has warned that about 40 jobs maritime engineering jobs in Nelson are at risk due to the Government's policy of refusing entry to ships as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. According to Sullivan, 40% of the company's revenue came from the international refit business. National MP Nick Smith has also called on the Government to lift the blanket ban on foreign ships, citing the case of the American Samoa-registered tuna fishing vessel Captain Vincent Gann, which was denied entry by Immigration New Zealand and asked to seek urgent repairs in Hawaii.

In late January 2021, it was reported that Immigration New Zealand had denied visas exemptions to 60 hospitality staff aboard the French cruise ship Le Lapérouse on the grounds that the hospitality workers needed to be New Zealanders. The cruise ship had been hired by the New Zealand-owned Wild Earth Travel company to run small expeditions around the country commencing 30 January. Wild Earth Travel Director Aaron Russ criticised the immigration department's decision, saying that this denial of visas jeopardised the travel plans of New Zealanders and that there was insufficient time to train replacement New Zealand hospitality staff. Immigration Minister Kris Faafoi defended Immigration New Zealand's decision, stating that Le Lapérouse should have waited for the department to process its crew's visa applications before sailing to New Zealand. As a result, the cruise line company Ponant cancelled all seven booked tours to New Zealand, with Ponant claiming that it would disrupt the travel plans of 650 New Zealanders and result in NZ$6 million in lost income for businesses.

On 25 March 2020, Allied Press suspended the print circulation of most of its community and farming newspapers to comply with lockdown restrictions. However, its metropolitan newspaper Otago Daily Times was allowed to remain open since it was considered an essential service.

On 30 March 2020, NZME, which owns The New Zealand Herald and radio station Newstalk ZB, announced the closure of Radio Sport with immediate effect, due to the impact of the coronavirus on sport.

On 2 April, Bauer Media Group announced that it would wind up its New Zealand magazine titles in direct response to magazines having been stopped from being published under the Level 4 restrictions. This will put an end to many iconic titles, including , New Zealand Woman's Weekly, the New Zealand Listener, The Australian Women's Weekly, North & South, Next, , Air New Zealand's inflight magazine Kia Ora, and Your Home & Garden, leaving about 200 former employees unemployed. Bauer Media's Australian and NZ operations were subsequently acquired by Mercury Capital, which revived the company as Are Media in September 2020.

On 25 May, MediaWorks' CEO Michael Anderson announced that the company would be eliminating 130 jobs in its sales, out-of-home, and radio divisions as a result of the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Following the Delta variant community outbreak in August 2021, Allied Press suspended publication of the Southland Express ( Invercargill), the Cromwell Bulletin, The Star (Christchurch), and Christchurch community papers due to Alert Level 4 lockdown restrictions.

Increased demand for face masks and hand sanitisers led to shortages nationwide in supermarkets and pharmacies. Following the first New Zealand case of COVID-19 on 28 February, customers were reportedly panic-buying supplies at Auckland supermarkets.

On 25 March 2020, The Warehouse Group prematurely announced that it was an "essential service" without consulting with the Government. When it was deemed not to be an essential service, The Warehouse shut down its brands including The Warehouse, Warehouse Stationery, Torpedo7, Noel Leeming, 1-day and TheMarket for the duration of the four-week lockdown, with all staff being put on full paid leave. The company also faced a fine of $500,000 if it was found to have breached the New Zealand Exchange's disclosure rules with more penalties if the company was found to have profited from a rise in its share price resulting from the announcement.

On 12 May, hardware and DIY chain Bunnings announced that it will close seven stores in Ashburton, Hornby, Hastings, Cambridge, Rangiora, Te Awamutu, and Putaruru with the loss of 145 jobs.

On 25 May, it was reported that the department store chain H & J Smith was considering closing its stores in Dunedin, Mosgiel, Balclutha, Te Anau, and Gore as well as the Armoury Store in Dunedin and Outdoor World in Queenstown. The Take Note store in Gore would relocate but H & J Smith's stores in Invercargill and Queenstown would remain open. A final decision will be made in early June. Dunedin and Clutha Mayors Aaron Hawkins and Bryan Cadogan have urged the company to reconsider their closure plans.

On 8 June, The Warehouse Group announced that it would be laying off 1,080 jobs and close down six stores including The Warehouse stores in Whangaparaoa, Johnsonville, Dunedin, the Warehouse Stationery in Te Awamutu, and the Noel Leeming stores in Henderson, Tokoroa, and two stores in Christchurch ( The Palms and Papanui). In response, First Union coordinator for The Warehouse Kate Davis criticised The Warehouse Group for not consulting with its workers, a charge that the company has denied.

On 21 December, the Warehouse Group announced that it would be repaying its NZ$67.8 million COVID-19 wage subsidy to the Government due to its "confident enough" final position.

Following the Delta community outbreak in mid-August 2021, there were reports of panic buying at several supermarkets including Countdown's Dunedin stores at Mailer Street and Dunedin South. In late August 2021, the two major supermarket companies Foodstuffs and Countdown drew criticism from the public for alleged price hiking during the Auckland 2021 lockdown, which the companies denied.

On 20 August 2021, the Countdown supermarket chain announced that it would be changing its store hours from 8am to 9pm in order to give its teams enough time to restock their shelves following a Delta variant community outbreak in Auckland. In addition, four Auckland stores in Lynfield, Takapuna, Lincoln Road and Botany reduced their store hours after several team members had to isolate following COVID-19 positive visits to their stores. In addition, the Countdown in Birkenhead closed until 31 August after team members from several shifts had to isolate. Countdown also temporarily closed its Auckland Metro stores to allow team members from these stores to support their other stores.

The Alert Level 4 lockdown implemented in response to the August Delta outbreak created financial difficulties for butcheries, which were not considered an essential service under Level 4 restrictions. In addition, butcheries are allowed to perform contactless delivery services but not "click and collect" delivery services under Level 4. In response, Retail Meat New Zealand launched a petition calling for the Government to allow butcheries to open under Alert Level 4. This petition was supported by Beef and Lamb NZ chief executive Kit Arkwright and Federated Farmers' Wairarapa meat and wool chair and National Party candidate Mike Butterick. In early September, Stuff reported that Remuera butcher Richard Hogg was offering "click-and-collect" services to customers in defiance of Level 4 lockdown rules in Auckland. On 9 September, Police ordered Hogg to cease offering "click and collect" services.

On 10 September, pay television company Sky reported a loss of NZ$175 million, down 74% the previous year, after it wrote-down the value of its assets by $178m to reflect the economic uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. While commercial and advertising revenue was affected by the pandemic, revenue from streaming was up by 35 per cent, contributing to an overall revenue figure of NZ$747.6 million. The company had also laid off 200 workers (roughly 18%) of its workforce since June 2019.

In early May, reported that thousands of migrant workers have been left unemployed in the tourist town of Queenstown with no money for food or rent. According to Queenstown-Lakes District mayor Jim Boult, 6,000 migrants had requested welfare assistance from local authorities.

References

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in New Zealand - Wikipedia

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The global COVID-19 pandemic had a significant impact on the New Zealand economy. New Zealand has a mixed economy - a free market with some state ownership and control. In mid-March 2020, the New Zealand Government imposed a four-tier alert level system, which placed much of the country's economy into lockdown with the exception of "essential services" such as supermarkets.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
A new Short-term Absence Payment is available from 9 February 2021 for businesses, including self-employed people, to help pay their workers who cannot work from home while they wait for a COVID-19 test result.

This is a one-off payment of $359 for each eligible worker. It also includes parents or caregivers who need to miss work to support their dependents who are staying at home awaiting a test result.

Further information is available at Work and Income.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
COVID-19 | Government economic response measures - William Buck New Zealand

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
A new Short-term Absence Payment is available from 9 February 2021 for businesses, including self-employed people, to help pay their workers who cannot work from home while they wait for a COVID-19 test result. This is a one-off payment of $359 for each eligible worker.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Today's GDP figures show the economy remains resilient and among the best in the world despite the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and reinforces the steps the government has taken to support the economy and secure the recovery, Grant Robertson said.

GDP declined 1 percent in the last three months of 2020, following a 13.9 percent jump in the September quarter and 11 percent fall in the quarter before that.

"It is not surprising that these numbers are jumping around. The world is dealing with the ongoing impact of COVID-19 and there will be volatility for some time," Grant Robertson said.

"New Zealand had an extremely strong bounce-back in the September quarter and some of that has evened out in the December quarter."

The economy was 0.9 percent below where it was in the December quarter last year.

"Nevertheless, we outperformed the countries we compare ourselves to on this measure."

Australia dropped by 1.1 percent, United States by 2.4 percent, the United Kingdom by 7.8 percent and Japan by 1.3 percent.

"There is also a lot of volatility within sectors in the economy. For example, on these measures construction declined in the quarter but activity remains at historically high levels," Grant Robertson said.

These figures show that the overall all size of the economy was $322 billion in 2020. This compares favourably with December's Half Year Economic and Fiscal Update forecast of $307 billion.

"Our economy remains strong. We will stick to our plan that has successfully helped New Zealand through this pandemic, keeping New Zealanders safe, accelerating the recovery and dealing with complex and long-standing issues such as climate change, housing affordability and child poverty. We will keep working with sectors who are still facing the impacts of COVID to support them to recover and rebuild," Grant Robertson said.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
NZ economy remains resilient in face of COVID impacts

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Today's GDP figures show the economy remains resilient and among the best in the world despite the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and reinforces the steps the government has taken to support the economy and secure the recovery, Grant Robertson said.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The real impact of New Zealand's economic response to Covid-19

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New Zealand's economic response to Covid was one of the worst in the world in terms of widening wealth inequality.

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Stats NZ - Impacts of Covid (Difficult to Read)

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Stats NZ - Impacts of Covid (Difficult to Read)

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https://www.stats.govt.nz/news/covid-19-sees-record-12-2-percent-fall-in-new-zealands-economy

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COVID-19 sees record 12.2 percent fall in New Zealand’s economy | Stats NZ

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Gross domestic product (GDP) fell by 12.2 percent in the June 2020 quarter, the largest quarterly fall recorded since the current series began in 1987, as the COVID-19 restrictions in place through the quarter impacted economic activity.

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How Covid-19 impacted New Zealand's economy

# data[].attributes.subject
How Covid-19 impacted New Zealand's economy

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The global COVID-19 pandemic had a significant impact on the New Zealand economy. New Zealand has a mixed economy - a free market with some state ownership and control. In mid-March 2020, the New Zealand Government imposed a four-tier alert level system, which placed much of the country's economy into lockdown with the exception of "essential services" such as supermarkets. Due to the success of the Government's elimination strategy, lockdown restrictions on various economic activities were progressively lifted between April and June 2020.

Although somewhat abruptly sidelined from their normal influence within the New Zealand economy, representatives of the business sector continued to feature in media reporting: lobbying against perceived discrepancies in various industries, publicising habitual evaluations such as business-confidence indicators and economic outlooks, and itching for an early return to"business as usual".

On 17 September 2020, New Zealand economy officially entered into a recession, with the country's gross domestic product contracting by 12.2% in the June quarter due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The retail, accommodation, hospitality, and transportation sectors were adversely affected by the international travel ban and a strict nationwide lockdown.

By mid-September 2021, the Restaurant Association's Chief executive Marisa Bidois estimated that about 1,000 hospitality businesses nationwide had been forced to close as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, leading to the loss of 13,000 jobs. This has led the Association to lobby the Government for continued wage subsidies and incentives to boost customer rates. By mid-November 2021, the Bay of Plenty Times reported that 26,774 companies had been liquidated by August 2021.

In early February 2022, the Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) identified the country's border restrictions and declining house prices as the major risks to the New Zealand economy that year. While the OECD report credited New Zealand's elimination strategy, wage and socio-economic subsidies with helping the economy to bounce back to pre-pandemic levels, it also warned that excessive Government spending was causing the economy to overheat and raising debt levels. The OECD welcomed the Reserve Bank of New Zealand's decision to raise interest rates but also urged the Government to raise the superannuation age, ease building restrictions, and reduce government spending.

On 12 August 2020, Aged Care Association chief executive Simon Wallace announced that all rest homes in New Zealand would go into full lockdown immediately until midnight Friday (14 August) in response to a recent wave of community transmissions.

On 22 August, it was reported that about 2.5 million bees had starved to death after workers from Waikato were unable to travel to Auckland to access beehives due to checkpoints imposed following a surge in community transmissions in Auckland. Businesses affected include Waitakaruru Honey Limited. Apiculture New Zealand had applied to the Ministry of Health for an exemption on behalf of commercial bee keepers.

In October and November 2020, the horticultural and viticultural industries reported a shortage of workers since the Government's border restrictions and managed isolation requirements prevented tourists and seasonal workers from entering the country. Under the Recognised Seasonal Employer scheme, horticultural and viticultural producers are normally allowed to recruit seasonal workers from the Pacific Islands and selected Asian countries. In addition, tourists from certain countries are allowed to work on a visitor visa. This labour shortage has caused fruits and crops to rot. Local growers have reported difficulty in recruiting locals due to the long hours, hard, outdoor work, lower wages, and them lacking the specialised picking and plant-care skills that foreign workers.

In mid-October 2020 Richard Palmer, the CEO of the producer representative body Summerfruit New Zealand, warned that the horticulture might not be able to pick up 30% of its harvest that year, a shortfall that could cost NZ$1.25 billion in export earnings. In late October 2020, Horticulture NZ and the New Zealand Apples and Pears Inc launched a jobs service called Pick Tiki to recruit urban young people into fruit-picking jobs in Hawke's Bay, Nelson, and Central Otago.

On 2 August 2021, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced that seasonal workers from Tonga, Samoa and Vanuatu will be allowed to enter the country without having to go into managed isolation from September 2021 onwards. This move was in response to a labour shortage in the agricultural and horticulture sectors.

In late September, horticulture company Zespri had several of its kiwifruit products pulled from Chinese supermarket shelves after a batch of fruit being sold at a supermarket in China's Jiangsu province tested positive for COVID-19. In response, Zespri confirmed that it had launched emergency management plans and that the New Zealand Government was supporting its discussions with Chinese authorities.

On 15 April 2020, reported that many pets included cats and dogs were stuck in transit at pet shipping companies and animal homes due to the disruption of travel caused by the coronavirus pandemic and lockdown in New Zealand. Due to lockdown restrictions, the transportation of pets is not deemed an essential service. Air New Zealand has announced that it would consider reopening its pet transportation service when Level 4 lockdown restrictions were lifted.

On 16 March, the national carrier Air New Zealand announced that it would be reducing its long-haul capacity by 85% and its personnel by 30% in response to declining demand and revenue as a result of the outbreak. In addition to the previously suspended flights to Shanghai and Seoul, the airline suspended flights to several major international cities including San Francisco, Houston, Buenos Aires, Vancouver, Tokyo, Honolulu, Denpasar, and Taipei between 30 March and 30 June as well as its London Heathrow- Los Angeles service. The airline also reduced trans-Tasman capacity by 80%, and the domestic network capacity would be reduced in March and April 2020. It would maintain enough overseas flights for returning New Zealanders and evacuees as well as essential air freight. On 20 March, the Government loaned Air New Zealand $900 million to protect essential air routes and to keep the company operating.

On 25 March, Air New Zealand's chief revenue officer announced the airline would cut back to just ten international and fifth-freedom routes from 30 March to 1 May: from Auckland to Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, Rarotonga, Nadi, Niue, Los Angeles and Hong Kong, and from Norfolk Island to Sydney and Brisbane. The Auckland to Shanghai route would resume on 2 May.

On 7 April, it was reported that Air New Zealand was considering laying off 387 pilots as part of cutback measures. The New Zealand Air Line Pilots' Association (NZALPA), which represents 1520 Air New Zealand pilots, is currently in negotiations with the airline to reduce the number of layoffs.

On 20 May, Air New Zealand announced that it would be laying off 3,500 personnel. This includes 1,300 cabin crew. 950 long and mid-haul crew will lose their jobs while 300 workers will be made redundant in Auckland, Wellington, and Christchurch. In addition, 97 jobs were lost at Air NZ's regional airlines Air Nelson and Mount Cook Airline.

In early June, Singapore Airlines announced that it would resume passenger flights to Auckland and Christchurch on a weekly basis. On 10 June, it was reported that Singapore Airlines staff were being quarantined in hotel rooms for the duration of their three-day stay. In mid-June, Air New Zealand announced that it would be resuming flights between Auckland and Shanghai from 22 June.

On 12 August, following several recent community transmissions, it was announced that all passengers leaving Auckland Airport would be issued with masks while passengers entering Auckland would be required to wear masks. Access to Auckland Airport would be limited to those with valid tickets, travel itineraries and travelling overseas. Social distancing would also be re-introduced at airports across the country.

On 15 August, Jetstar suspended its domestic operations in New Zealand after the Government implemented social distancing rules following a second outbreak in Auckland that month.

On 14 September, Jetstar announced that it was resuming domestic flights in New Zealand after Prime Minister Ardern announced that physical distancing on aircraft was no longer required. The airline had suspended its domestic services in New Zealand four weeks earlier following an outbreak in Auckland in mid-August 2020.

In early January 2021, Air New Zealand announced that its first quarantine-free flight would depart from Auckland to Brisbane on 7 January 2021. Passengers travelling from New Zealand to Brisbane would not need to enter into quarantine if they filled in an Australian Travel Declaration saying they have been in New Zealand for 14 days.

On 25 January, Air New Zealand required passengers on its international flights to wear masks due to New Zealand's COVID-19 rules.

On 23 April, Air New Zealand cancelled a flight between Auckland and Perth after the West Australian capital entered into a three-day lockdown following a local COVID-19 outbreak.

Following a community outbreak of the Delta variant in Auckland and the Coromandel Peninsula in 17 August, Prime Minister Ardern announced that people would have 48 hours to return home. Air New Zealand also announced that it would continue to operate its regular schedule for the next 48 hours in order to enable customers to return to their place of residence. On 19 August, Air New Zealand CEO Greg Foran asked the Government to extend its 48 hour deadline due to the high demand for flights from Queenstown to Auckland.

On 26 August, Air New Zealand reported a net loss of NZ$289 million due to closed borders and disrupted services caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The airline had already used up NZ$350 million of its $1.5 billion stand-by loan from the Government.

On 22 November 2021, Air New Zealand announced that it was cancelling over a thousand end-of-the-year flights between Australia and New Zealand due to the Government's indication that it would not lift border restrictions in late 2021. This cancellation is estimated to affect 20,000 travellers.

On 20 May, building company Fletcher Building announced it would be laying off at least 1,000 jobs in New Zealand and 500 jobs in Australia, amounting to ten per cent of their workforce. On 11 August, it was reported that Fletcher Building was expecting a loss of NZ$196 million for the year to June 2020 due to the pandemic.

On 17 March, Jon Landau, the co-producer of the film sequels, announced that film production at the Wellington-based Stone Street Studios had been suspended in response to the pandemic. However, visual effects will continue at Weta Digital in Wellington. On 31 May 50 Avatar crew including Hollywood director James Cameron were granted entry into New Zealand under a special visa category for border exemptions for foreigners deemed essential to a project of "significant economic value."

On 12 August 2021, Amazon Studios announced that it would be moving its untitled The Lord of The Rings TV series from New Zealand to the United Kingdom after completing filming of the first season. Factors that played a role in the relocation of filming from NZ back to the UK included New Zealand's strict pandemic border management policies which created logistical problems for many international cast members (half of whom were British) and Amazon executives wanting to visit and monitor the production. In addition, Amazon Studios had also heavily invested in its UK studio space.

On 1 July, ASB Bank announced it was closing nine branches in the major centres and that 25 branches will be moving to three-day weeks due to a shift in demand for online services. The branches that closed were Auckland Hospital, Parnell, Ronwood Avenue in Manukau City, Ellerslie and Mount Albert in Auckland, Waikato University in Hamilton, Papamoa in Bay of Plenty, Barrington in Christchurch and Mosgiel in Otago. The company will also hire 150 additional staff to provide specialist online support.

Funeral directors have warned about a spike in violence as a result of people being unable to attend funerals for their loved ones during the Level 4 and Level 3 restrictions.

In mid-September 2021, the fast food chain McDonald's drew criticism from the Unite Union for not ensuring adequate social distancing between staff and customers at their stores' drive-through windows. Under Alert Level 3 guidelines, there has to be a two-metre distance between staff and customers. Other fastfood chains including Restaurant Brands' subsidiaries KFC, Pizza Hut, Carl's Jr and Taco Bell close the window between staff and customers during payment. McDonald's spokesperson Simon Kenny responded that general security measures meant that Eftpos units were wired and secured, making it impossible to completely close the window. Unite Union national secretary John Crocker disputed Kenny's explanation and stated that he intended to pursue the matter with the WorkSafe regulatory body.

By 23 September 2021, the Restaurant Association's Chief executive Marisa Bidois estimated that about 1,000 hospitality businesses in New Zealand had been forced to close as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic since March 2020, representing the loss of about 13,000 jobs. The Restaurant Association also unveiled a "Future of Hospitality Roadmap" which called for the Government to continue the wage subsidy under Alert Level 2, a "lockout subsidy" providing businesses the equivalent of 50% of their weekly sales, a one-off "reopening payment", and various vouchers and incentives to encourage customers to support their local businesses. The Association also advocated "Dine out to Help Out" and "Dine and Discover NZ" campaigns, modelled after similar programs in the United Kingdom and Australia.

In early June 2020, marine engineering company Airmex's managing director Steve Sullivan has warned that about 40 jobs maritime engineering jobs in Nelson are at risk due to the Government's policy of refusing entry to ships as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. According to Sullivan, 40% of the company's revenue came from the international refit business. National MP Nick Smith has also called on the Government to lift the blanket ban on foreign ships, citing the case of the American Samoa-registered tuna fishing vessel Captain Vincent Gann, which was denied entry by Immigration New Zealand and asked to seek urgent repairs in Hawaii.

In late January 2021, it was reported that Immigration New Zealand had denied visas exemptions to 60 hospitality staff aboard the French cruise ship Le Lapérouse on the grounds that the hospitality workers needed to be New Zealanders. The cruise ship had been hired by the New Zealand-owned Wild Earth Travel company to run small expeditions around the country commencing 30 January. Wild Earth Travel Director Aaron Russ criticised the immigration department's decision, saying that this denial of visas jeopardised the travel plans of New Zealanders and that there was insufficient time to train replacement New Zealand hospitality staff. Immigration Minister Kris Faafoi defended Immigration New Zealand's decision, stating that Le Lapérouse should have waited for the department to process its crew's visa applications before sailing to New Zealand. As a result, the cruise line company Ponant cancelled all seven booked tours to New Zealand, with Ponant claiming that it would disrupt the travel plans of 650 New Zealanders and result in NZ$6 million in lost income for businesses.

On 25 March 2020, Allied Press suspended the print circulation of most of its community and farming newspapers to comply with lockdown restrictions. However, its metropolitan newspaper Otago Daily Times was allowed to remain open since it was considered an essential service.

On 30 March 2020, NZME, which owns The New Zealand Herald and radio station Newstalk ZB, announced the closure of Radio Sport with immediate effect, due to the impact of the coronavirus on sport.

On 2 April, Bauer Media Group announced that it would wind up its New Zealand magazine titles in direct response to magazines having been stopped from being published under the Level 4 restrictions. This will put an end to many iconic titles, including , New Zealand Woman's Weekly, the New Zealand Listener, The Australian Women's Weekly, North & South, Next, , Air New Zealand's inflight magazine Kia Ora, and Your Home & Garden, leaving about 200 former employees unemployed. Bauer Media's Australian and NZ operations were subsequently acquired by Mercury Capital, which revived the company as Are Media in September 2020.

On 25 May, MediaWorks' CEO Michael Anderson announced that the company would be eliminating 130 jobs in its sales, out-of-home, and radio divisions as a result of the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Following the Delta variant community outbreak in August 2021, Allied Press suspended publication of the Southland Express ( Invercargill), the Cromwell Bulletin, The Star (Christchurch), and Christchurch community papers due to Alert Level 4 lockdown restrictions.

Increased demand for face masks and hand sanitisers led to shortages nationwide in supermarkets and pharmacies. Following the first New Zealand case of COVID-19 on 28 February, customers were reportedly panic-buying supplies at Auckland supermarkets.

On 25 March 2020, The Warehouse Group prematurely announced that it was an "essential service" without consulting with the Government. When it was deemed not to be an essential service, The Warehouse shut down its brands including The Warehouse, Warehouse Stationery, Torpedo7, Noel Leeming, 1-day and TheMarket for the duration of the four-week lockdown, with all staff being put on full paid leave. The company also faced a fine of $500,000 if it was found to have breached the New Zealand Exchange's disclosure rules with more penalties if the company was found to have profited from a rise in its share price resulting from the announcement.

On 12 May, hardware and DIY chain Bunnings announced that it will close seven stores in Ashburton, Hornby, Hastings, Cambridge, Rangiora, Te Awamutu, and Putaruru with the loss of 145 jobs.

On 25 May, it was reported that the department store chain H & J Smith was considering closing its stores in Dunedin, Mosgiel, Balclutha, Te Anau, and Gore as well as the Armoury Store in Dunedin and Outdoor World in Queenstown. The Take Note store in Gore would relocate but H & J Smith's stores in Invercargill and Queenstown would remain open. A final decision will be made in early June. Dunedin and Clutha Mayors Aaron Hawkins and Bryan Cadogan have urged the company to reconsider their closure plans.

On 8 June, The Warehouse Group announced that it would be laying off 1,080 jobs and close down six stores including The Warehouse stores in Whangaparaoa, Johnsonville, Dunedin, the Warehouse Stationery in Te Awamutu, and the Noel Leeming stores in Henderson, Tokoroa, and two stores in Christchurch ( The Palms and Papanui). In response, First Union coordinator for The Warehouse Kate Davis criticised The Warehouse Group for not consulting with its workers, a charge that the company has denied.

On 21 December, the Warehouse Group announced that it would be repaying its NZ$67.8 million COVID-19 wage subsidy to the Government due to its "confident enough" final position.

Following the Delta community outbreak in mid-August 2021, there were reports of panic buying at several supermarkets including Countdown's Dunedin stores at Mailer Street and Dunedin South. In late August 2021, the two major supermarket companies Foodstuffs and Countdown drew criticism from the public for alleged price hiking during the Auckland 2021 lockdown, which the companies denied.

On 20 August 2021, the Countdown supermarket chain announced that it would be changing its store hours from 8am to 9pm in order to give its teams enough time to restock their shelves following a Delta variant community outbreak in Auckland. In addition, four Auckland stores in Lynfield, Takapuna, Lincoln Road and Botany reduced their store hours after several team members had to isolate following COVID-19 positive visits to their stores. In addition, the Countdown in Birkenhead closed until 31 August after team members from several shifts had to isolate. Countdown also temporarily closed its Auckland Metro stores to allow team members from these stores to support their other stores.

The Alert Level 4 lockdown implemented in response to the August Delta outbreak created financial difficulties for butcheries, which were not considered an essential service under Level 4 restrictions. In addition, butcheries are allowed to perform contactless delivery services but not "click and collect" delivery services under Level 4. In response, Retail Meat New Zealand launched a petition calling for the Government to allow butcheries to open under Alert Level 4. This petition was supported by Beef and Lamb NZ chief executive Kit Arkwright and Federated Farmers' Wairarapa meat and wool chair and National Party candidate Mike Butterick. In early September, Stuff reported that Remuera butcher Richard Hogg was offering "click-and-collect" services to customers in defiance of Level 4 lockdown rules in Auckland. On 9 September, Police ordered Hogg to cease offering "click and collect" services.

On 10 September, pay television company Sky reported a loss of NZ$175 million, down 74% the previous year, after it wrote-down the value of its assets by $178m to reflect the economic uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. While commercial and advertising revenue was affected by the pandemic, revenue from streaming was up by 35 per cent, contributing to an overall revenue figure of NZ$747.6 million. The company had also laid off 200 workers (roughly 18%) of its workforce since June 2019.

In early May, reported that thousands of migrant workers have been left unemployed in the tourist town of Queenstown with no money for food or rent. According to Queenstown-Lakes District mayor Jim Boult, 6,000 migrants had requested welfare assistance from local authorities.

References

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Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in New Zealand - Wikipedia

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The global COVID-19 pandemic had a significant impact on the New Zealand economy. New Zealand has a mixed economy - a free market with some state ownership and control. In mid-March 2020, the New Zealand Government imposed a four-tier alert level system, which placed much of the country's economy into lockdown with the exception of "essential services" such as supermarkets.