WellingtonNZ delivers $203m in direct economic impact for the region

WellingtonNZ, the region’s economic development agency and tourism organisation, has released its Annual Report for 2024/25. The organisation delivered $203 million in direct economic impact and provided an 800% return on investment for the Wellington region.

Highlight 2024/25 financial year direct impacts include $136 million in spend generated from major, performance and business events, over 3,000 local business engagements in work programmes and 90% stakeholder satisfaction; while key indirect measures of impact include 2.8 million tourist visitor nights, almost $1 billion in domestic visitor spend, and maintaining the highest GDP per capita nationally at $100,445.

“Our mission is to make the Wellington region thrive as a place to live, visit, study, work, do business, and invest. We must deliver the best results and economic return possible for the people of the Wellington region and our shareholders – therefore we are thrilled to have created over eight dollars of economic value for every dollar invested in WellingtonNZ,” says WellingtonNZ chief executive, Mark Oldershaw.

“Despite the past year bringing nationwide economic challenges and local political uncertainty, these results demonstrate our organisation’s ability to drive development, resilience and opportunity across tourism, events, business support and creative technology for the region.

“We are proud to be supporting entrepreneurs to bring bold ideas to life, enabling local businesses to grow, attracting and hosting major events, and promoting the region as a must-visit destination for international and domestic visitors - we know that the work we do matters. It’s also important to recognise the successes of Wellington’s people and businesses over the past year – we are a tenacious and innovative region, and there is plenty to be positive about.”

The report reveals key results across WellingtonNZ’s work programmes, which align with both the Wellington City Council and Greater Wellington Regional Council’s strategic priorities. The organisation successfully exceeded its key headline key performance indicators, as agreed with its two primary council shareholders.

Highlight results for WellingtonNZ and its subsidiary Creative HQ include:

• Delivered a strong portfolio of major, performance and business events including World of Wearable Arts (WOW), Wrexham AFC Down Under, Jim Beam Homegrown, and Visa Wellington on a Plate. Overall, events generated over $136 million in expenditure and reinforced Wellington’s reputation as New Zealand’s events capital. Events are proven to foster community pride - 88% of attendees said hosting large-scale events boosts their pride for the city.
• WellingtonNZ-operated venues (Michael Fowler Centre, TSB Arena, Shed6, St James Theatre, The Opera House) hosted over 470 performances and business events, contributing $53.7 million in visitor spend.
• Business Events Wellington (BEW), won 46 conference bids with a future estimated delegate spend of over $26 million.
• Domestic tourism remained the key driver of visitor spend, reaching almost $1 billion in indirect impact in 2024/25. WellingtonNZ led the Regional Tourism Boost project, launching the ‘Central New Zealand’ proposition in partnership with 8 neighbouring Regional Tourism Organisations, and is set to generate nearly $4 million in spend from the Australian market.
• Development of a new cruise strategy with CentrePort began, to attract more vessels to Wellington’s shores and improve passenger spend, while a refresh of the Destination Management Plan in consultation with hundreds of local businesses continued.
• The Regional Economic Development Plan – a 10-year plan featuring 31 priority initiatives – continued to support the region’s economy and created 184 direct jobs in the past year. Projects supported include the Taiawa Tech Hub which generated $11.9 million in GDP and supported 127 FTE jobs, the Screen Accelerator Programme which has resulted in three new productions confirmed, and capability building for the Wairarapa Dark Sky Reserve.
• Engagement with and support of 369 businesses across the region to enable ongoing growth. Support included accounting, business services, digital and social media capability and marketing activity.
• Support of 103 Māori and Pasifika businesses, a 30% increase year on year.
• Engagement with 399 businesses and delivery of 13 capability workshops for businesses affected by central city infrastructure projects.
• Delivery of free 1:1 coaching to 384 early-stage start-ups through Startup Aotearoa, and education of 2,300 people via initiatives and events designed to connect and lift capability for entrepreneurs and local scale-ups.
• Production job development for the capital’s screen sector, with around 500 production jobs supported through secured screen projects.
• Ongoing advocacy and partnership initiatives to keep the Wellington region on the shortlist for major screen productions.
• WellingtonNZ’s Advent campaign saw its most successful year yet, generating more than $870,000 in revenue for participating local businesses.

“We are a small but passionate team delivering solid return on investment. Collaborating closely with our shareholders, stakeholders, and the people of Wellington is essential to our ongoing success. The areas we work across are not only vital to the region’s economy but also integral to its identity,” says Mark.

WellingtonNZ receives the majority of its funding from its shareholders, Wellington City Council and Greater Wellington Regional Council, however over a quarter (28.3%) of funding is received from non-shareholders to ensure sustainable continuation of programmes through revenue diversification.

View the full 2024 to 2025 Annual Report [PDF, 7.78 MB]

Date published: 4 November 2025