Labour markets respond to supply and demand changes caused by external shocks, including pandemics. In 2020 and 2021, the Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic caused a sudden reduction in labour demand in certain industries globally. As economies emerge into the post COVID-19 reality, a return of patterns caused by ongoing structural pressures return. In Canterbury, a region centred on Christchurch in New Zealand, these include migration demand pressures. This paper uses data from the Canterbury region, which is no stranger to disasters, as a case study. Two models are developed to estimate the future workforce requirements during the recovery period. A population growth model is utilised to test the regional labour market's limits, while an economic model estimates the required jobs for the regional economy. The paper finds that the lower economic activity resulting from COVID-19 has reduced the near-term employment demand. At the same time, labour force transition coupled with strict border controls reveals the need for labour force participation to adjust during the extended recovery period. Although short-term demand for skilled migration remains lower, those leaving the workforce will require replacing.

The city of Christchurch, New Zealand, incurred significant damage due to a series of earthquakes in 2010 and 2011. The city had, by the late 2010s, regained economic and social normalcy after a sustained period of rebuilding and economic recovery. Through the concerted rebuilding effort, a modern central business district (CBD) with redesigned infrastructure and amenities was developed. The Christchurch rebuild was underpinned by a commitment of urban planners to an open and connected city, including the use of innovative technologies to gather, use and share data. As was the case elsewhere, the COVID-19 pandemic brought about significant disruptions to social and economic life in Christchurch. Border closures, lockdowns, trading limitations and other restrictions on movement led to changes in traditional consumer behaviors and affected the retail sector's resilience. In this study, we used CBD pedestrian traffic data gathered from various locations to predict changes in retail spending and identify recovery implications through the lens of retail resilience. We found that the COVID-19 pandemic and its related lockdowns have driven a substantive change in the behavioral patterns of city users. The implications for resilient retail, sustainable policy and further research are explored.

In the last two decades, the retail sector has experienced unprecedented upheaval, having severe implications for economic development and sustenance of traditional inner-city retail districts. In the city of Christchurch, New Zealand, this effect has been exacerbated by a series of earthquakes in 2010/2011 which destroyed much of the traditional retail precinct of the city. After extensive rebuild activity of the city’s infrastructure, the momentum of retailers returning to the inner city was initially sluggish but eventually gathered speed supported by increased international visitation. In early 2020, the return to retail normality came to an abrupt halt after the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic. This study uses spending and transaction data to analyze the compounding impact of the earthquake’s aftermath, shift to online shopping, and the retail disruption in the Christchurch central retail precinct because of COVID-19. The findings illustrate how consumers through their spending respond to different types of external shocks, altering their consumption patterns and retail mode (offline and online) to cope with an ever-changing retail landscape. Each event triggers different spending patterns that have some similarities but also stark differences, having implications for a sustainable and resilient retail industry in Christchurch. Implications for urban retail precinct development are also discussed.

This chapter examines some of the issues in the economics of tourism that have gained the attention of scholars, industry representatives and policymakers in recent times. This includes tourism consumption, seasonality, optimising the economic returns from tourism, minimising the undesired economic aspects of tourism, over-tourism, and the use of econometric techniques required to analyse strategies aimed to achieve these goals. In 2020, the emergent COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the world economy to an extent not seen since the end of World War II. Border closures, lockdowns, supply chain disruptions and other events had a destructive impact on many sectors of the world's economies, but the impact on tourism has been especially significant. The decades long growth in this industry came to an abrupt halt, with many stakeholders in the tourism sector unsure how the industry will recover. While many governments have instituted various measures designed to minimise business failures and unemployment in the sector, the true long-term extent of the social and economic damage incurred is only likely to be seen once the pandemic is completely over and normalcy in economic life has resumed. The chapter concludes with an overview of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on tourism and some thoughts on the way forward for the time after the pandemic. This chapter will largely focus on international aspects of tourism, but reference to domestic tourism will be made where necessary.

Knowledge of, and experience in the market are key determinants in decision-making for any business. However, when a disruption occurs, similar to COVID-19, businesses need to rapidly respond to the situation to survive. This paper considers how hospitality businesses within the Christchurch, New Zealand, economy supported heavily by international visitors, were able to pivot from a substantial international market injection to a predominantly local market, and succeeded. The local industry experienced several disasters recently, which likely prepared the industry for a successful transition. Their success in transitioning the focus from a largely international target market to a domestic market is measured over time through point-of-sale card spending data and supported by a survey that captured initial concerns and the perceived impact that closed borders would have on their ability to operate during 2020 and beyond. The hospitality industry's ability to transition from a denpendency on significant international visitor spending injection to a predominantly domestic market exceeded their own expectations, suggesting that factors outside the business experience played a role in their success.

Purpose – The New Zealand city of Christchurch provides a leading example of post-disaster rebuilding in a Central Business District (CBD) area. In its rebuilding programme, the city has given emphasis to the greening of hospitality and traditional retail space through a combination of development of shared pedestrian spaces (with traffic exclusion and calming) and the integration of greening within the streetscape design. This paper aims to assess whether the development of greened pedestrian areas leads to higher retail spending and, thus, retail rental rates.

Design/methodology/approach – This study uses pedestrian movement data collected from several CBD locations, as well as spending data on retail and hospitality, to assess relationships between pedestrian movements and spending. This study explores retail spending in greened pedestrian shared spaces, and explores how this differs from retail spending in traditional street areas within the Christchurch CBD.

Findings – Spending patterns are location-related, depending on the characteristics of pedestrian space in the selected area. Greened shared pedestrian areas have the highest spending per measured pedestrian for retail and hospitality, whereas traditional street areas have lower spending for retail and hospitality per measured pedestrian, demonstrating the benefits in redeveloped central city areas.

Originality/value – The scope of smart data continues to develop as a research area within urban studies to develop an open and connected city. This research demonstrates the use of innovative technologies for data collection, use and sharing. The results support commercial benefits of greening and pedestrianisation of retail and hospitality areas for CBDs and providing an example for other cities to follow.