A former chief executive at Destination Rotorua, Rawson moved to Nelson in 2016 to head the newly formed NRDA – a merger of Nelson Tasman Tourism and the Economic Development Agency. NRDA acting chairwoman Sarah-Jane Weir said Rawson’s tenure had occurred during a “significant period for organising and advancing economic development in Nelson Tasman”. Under his leadership, the organisation had worked to deliver a number of legacy projects to further the Nelson Tasman regional identity, she said. The Project Kōkiri collaboration to drive the COVID-19 economic recovery had seen the agency involved in delivering a coordinated regional response to the pandemic on top of its usual work programme.
Weir said now was not the time to be complacent though, with potential dark clouds on the horizon for 2021. Along with signs of a drop in consumer spending since October, she said the region was particularly vulnerable to issues in overseas markets. As well as Nelson/Tasman s visitor sector being 40 per cent larger than the national average with regard to GDP and employment, the region generated the largest proportion of GDP from export than anywhere else in the country, she said. “There are a significant number of macroeconomic and geopolitical issues upcoming, and there will be challenges coming for regions of New Zealand with high dependency on international consumer markets for exports and international visitors.