Wellington’s Economic Wellbeing Strategy: Delivering impact in a challenging year

Packed with Potential

Launched in 2022, the Economic Wellbeing Strategy (EWS) sets out a 10-year vision for a resilient, low-carbon economy. From laying the foundations to sector development and targeted interventions, together with our CCO partner WellingtonNZ, the Council has progressed dozens of actions over the past three years with particular focus on:

• Events and tourism
• Precinct revitalisation
• Tech & screen sector development
• Circular economy initiatives
• Youth career pathways

Economic Wellbeing & City Revitalisation manger Melissa Davey says: “Wellington is packed with potential. Our work is helping unlock that, through targeted interventions and investment.”

Vibrancy you can feel

Events are an intrinsic part of Wellington’s identity. They give the city flavour and buzz, support hospitality and hotels, create jobs and make us proud to call Pōneke home.

• $131M in out-of-region event spend
• World of Wearable Arts: $31M economic benefit
• Courtenay Carnival: 8,000–10,000 attendees, 43% hospitality turnover increase
• 200+ street performances, 167 artists, 30+ businesses engaged
• 280,000+ sports fans supported Wellington teams – go the Nix, Blaze, Saints, Hurricanes and all our sports heroes!

Events breathe life into our city with some residents beginning to feel the vibrancy being put back into Wellington.

“I am a Wellington resident and am happy to say that I feel proud of my city again! Closing upper Courtenay place and having a stage was a brilliant idea, all the bands were brilliant and engaging and the covers were so fun! I am truly impressed at how vibrant and safe the city felt!” – Wellington resident

Innovation to diversify our economy

With central government cuts impacting jobs and spending, diversifying Wellington’s economy is more important than ever. The city’s biggest opportunities are in the tech and screen sectors, where Wellington already excels. Over the past 12 months, the Council has supported several initiatives in this space, including:

• Taiawa Tech Scale Up Hub: 127 jobs and creating $11.9M in GDP impact for Pōneke through a partnership with Vic Uni
• $4.6M private capital raised by accelerator graduates
• Biggest Tech Week ever: 90+ events, 5,200 attendees
• Wellington gaming sector: $547M revenue, 21 studios
• Screen Accelerator: 28 participants, 3 productions greenlit

A connected network of precincts 

We have been busy working closely with businesses in the central city, including Wellington’s newest live music venue Meow Nui, delivering practical workshops to help businesses thrive, and providing advice and support for hundreds of operators citywide. Meanwhile, our precinct regeneration approach is uncovering what makes our inner-city neighbourhoods great.

Wellington’s suburban areas are thriving too and we’re supporting their economic aspirations through the six Business Improvement Districts (BID) from Khandallah to Kilbirnie. We’ve refreshed our BID policy to make it easier for BIDs to meet their legal obligations and strengthened engagement approach with mana whenua.

• 613 businesses supported across 6 BIDs and a refreshed BID policy in place
• 600 precinct-level engagements across WCC and WellingtonNZ business support
• 140 attendees in business support workshops on topics as diverse as resilience, marketing, AI for business
• Meow Nui venue opened in 2024 with 47 national and international live events to date adding culture and music to the top end of town
• Cuba Street precinct plan engagement underway, 900 post it notes of feedback collected!

From these engagements our stats shows that 86% of SMEs say: “Wellington is a good place to do business.”

Looking ahead

Wellington continues to face economic challenges with creative grit and with AI reshaping our world, it’s time to review the Economic Wellbeing Strategy to sharpen priorities and ensure continued impact.

Shout out to the team

We can’t and don’t do this alone! The impact of the Economic Wellbeing Strategy relies on strong partnerships across Council, WellingtonNZ, mana whenua and our business and community stakeholders to deliver impact for our community. Thank you for helping to ensure that Wellington is packed with potential.