This month we highlight the move of our Quarterly Economic Reports to an interactive web-based format, along similar lines to our Annual Online Profiles. We've also publicly released our Community Profiles for all districts and regions around New Zealand, giving users the opportunity to access and visualise a wide range of data from the 2013 Census.
Most of our articles this month have a regional focus as well. We look at how tourism activity is going across the country, and how the growth in visitor numbers is boosting the sector around most of New Zealand - a welcome change following a period where most of the growth has been concentrated in Auckland and Queenstown. We also discuss the role that patterns of remote working might have in helping out regional New Zealand.
The handbrake has been lifted for tourism operators in regional New Zealand, after years of underperformance following the Global Financial Crisis. Data from Statistics New Zealand shows that guest nights in2014 grew in 48 of New Zealand’s 66 territorial authorities (excluding Chatham Islands), adding to evidence from Infometrics’ regional GDP database that 50 territorial authorities had positive growth in tourism GDP over the March 2014 year.
Infometrics quarterly economic reports are now web-based. The product enables councils and economic development agencies to keep their finger on the economic pulse of their local economies. A feature much appreciated by our clients is that the system enables our clients to compare their growth performance with all other districts and regions in New Zealand.
Each morning the train station in the small Wairarapa town of Carterton is packed with commuters who do the long trek into Wellington. Like me, these people have each balanced up the pros of living far out of town against the costs. The journey takes an hour and a half so the costs are clearly significant. But we each weigh these costs against the benefits of the more pleasant climate, affordable housing and the opportunities of living on a lifestyle block.
About a month or so ago I was sent an article about the changing nature of ‘outsourcing’. This got me thinking, how are advances in technology resulting in different types of outsourcing and what could this potentially mean for New Zealand SMEs?
