Richard Timpany
National Tourism Sector Leader, Advisory Partner
Covid-19 wreaked havoc on New Zealand’s tourism sector, and recovery has not been as swift as many leaders would have liked. Adverse weather events in recent years – notably Cyclone Gabrielle – further hampered conditions in some areas, so it’s encouraging to see signs of positivity emerge in the latest BDO Business Wellbeing Index.
Business performance sentiment has seen an uplift of more than 10% in our latest survey, with 69% of tourism business leaders now feeling positive about their overall business performance – and 77% expecting to feel positive about this measure in six months’ time.
Cash flow and financial performance have shown significant improvement compared to this time last year. With annual tourism arrivals into New Zealand in 2024 returning to 85% of pre-pandemic levels, it appears the nation’s tourism recovery is underway. The Government’s recent announcement of a $13.5m investment to increase global marketing to international visitors will likely contribute to this upswing, expecting to boost tourism visits and spend in the next year.
The improved business outlook doesn’t come without downsides. Looking at the pressure points for tourism business leaders, our May 2025 BDO Business Wellbeing Index shows just 37% are feeling positive about their workload – the lowest ranked out of 18 business performance issues. Employee motivation and performance is also an area of concern. Record numbers of people leaving New Zealand may be contributing to the low levels of positivity about workload and employee motivation and performance seen amongst tourism business leaders.
External economic factors also rate low for tourism leaders, likely due to global economic uncertainty following Trump’s tariff rhetoric. Interestingly, less than half of tourism business leaders currently feel positive about their ability to leverage and adapt to new technologies (including AI), but 66% expect to feel positive about this in six months’ time. Perhaps a digital overhaul is underway!
Among tourism leaders experiencing decreased mental health, 43% attribute this to high workloads, 56% point to not having enough people to rely on for support, and 52% mention issues related to employee performance or conflict.
These figures suggest many in the industry are struggling with both workload and workforce – perhaps overstretching themselves in a bid to take on as much work as possible without increasing staff costs. Tourism business leaders’ future wellbeing sentiment reflects this, with just 40% saying they expect to feel satisfied with life all or most of the time in six months. This is concerning and highlights the need for tourism leaders to seek out support for themselves as well as their business.
Richard Timpany