This week Westpac released their NZ Regional economic quarterly confidence report, June-17, and the Bay of Plenty region is performing strongly. In fact, there is a 17 per cent increase in confidence from Mar-17, with the Bay of Plenty sitting at a net confidence rating of 42 per cent, the second highest rating in New Zealand.
Overall, the Westpac McDermott Miller report shows regional economic confidence is improving and is led by the Nelson region at 19 per cent, followed by the Bay of Plenty at 17 per cent. But interestingly, it shows Auckland had a negative drop in confidence of -5 per cent, followed by Canterbury at -4 per cent.
So, what does this mean? Is Rotorua experiencing the confidence reported in the Bay of Plenty result? Does this mean the tide is turning and regional New Zealanders are celebrating the fact we live in regions, at the expense of the big cities who seem to be losing their gloss as a place to live, work and play?
Absolutely. Rotorua is experiencing the confidence outlined in this report - and it is occurring across most sectors specifically;
a. Tourism - the optimism is reflected in continued growth and is in line with national trends of increasing tourist numbers. Additionally, the Lions tour is providing a windfall during our low season.
b. Retail - there is strong investment coming into the city and is evidenced with the new shopping precincts being built, or those just completed, and we are seeing new retailers coming into town taking over vacant shops i.e. Kilt, Max, APT?
c. Housing - the market continues to be strong in that there is not enough housing stock for buyers or renters, and
d. The manufacturing sector is also doing well. I heard a story this week where currently there are 30 vacancies in one company and the pains of growing are reflected in the difficulty of recruiting skilled staff coupled with not having sufficient housing stock. In this case, the owner successfully recruited an experienced person but lost them one month later because they could not find suitable housing.
Finally, I believe the confidence in Rotorua is matching, and/or is better, than the wider Bay of Plenty. We are experiencing real growing pains, which is great, but as a city we need to get ahead of this growth curve and ensure we have the infrastructure and strategies to attract and retain talent to ensure we actualise and unlock the potential of the city. We need to lobby our politicians to ensure their focus is on regional New Zealand, well actually just Rotorua because the big cities are losing their gloss.
Allison Lawton is the chief executive for the Rotorua Chamber of Commerce.