Stories by Tess Brunton

Work will get under way soon on an access road to a popular Fiordland track after it was partly wiped out by floodwaters.

Southern businesses are calling for more certainty ahead of an election finance debate in Queenstown tonight.

A South Island tourism operator says he could have prevented redundancies if wasn't for delays to a nature-based job creation scheme.

Tourism operators want a review of a controversial government fund that new papers show was nearly scrapped before it got off the ground. Video

A 'haunted' Otago hotel has closed for the first time since it was built in 1882 after a business deal went awry.

Invercargill city councillors have spent most of an extraordinary meeting behind closed doors talking about how they plan to restore the public's trust and confidence.

Invercargill City councillors have had a mixed reaction to being subject to a government review with some welcoming the scrutiny and others questioning why it is needed.

South Island ski fields are feeling the loss of Auckland visitors in the wake of the level 3 restrictions.

Queenstown Lakes residents have slammed Aurora Energy plans to hike power prices, calling the power company untrustworthy, unreliable and even incompetent.

The impacts of returning to level 2 will be a "kick in the guts" for South Island businesses which were just getting back on their feet.

Each winter, a small team of specialist avalanche forecasters begin their vigil to keep people safe while travelling on the Milford Road. Video

Close to one million people visited Milford Sound last year, but that's slowed from a torrent to a trickle as borders have closed. Video

Southern DHB is pushing for Dunedin and Invercargill to be used for managed isolation ahead of Queenstown, due to concerns about its lack of medical facilities.

Plans for isolating people in Queenstown will need to be bulletproof before the mayor will back them, he says. Audio

Few supporters could be found in David Clark's electorate of Dunedin today - a seat he won by more than 11,000 votes in the last election.

The tourism industry remains in the dark about where millions of dollars collected through the international visitor levy will go.

"I had visited elderly people in Clyde that morning and saw for myself the difficulty some were having in keeping themselves warm," Mayor Tim Cadogan says.

Queenstown businesses are questioning why Tourism Minister Kelvin Davis has been absent for so long from the struggling resort town.

Tourism operators claim the concessions granted by the Department of Conservation are outdated and taking far too long to be approved.

The ski season kicks off from today as Canterbury's Mt Hutt welcomes people back to the slopes under the new normal.

Hundreds of displaced Queenstown workers may be used to help tackle a growing pest problem - wilding pines. Video

With a second wave of redundancies expected in the coming weeks, there are high hopes the centre can help ease the stress for many across the district.

Bidders in Queenstown have started testing the water in one of the country's most expensive property markets.

Immigration NZ will send a team of staff to support migrant workers and employers in Queenstown as some prepare to lose the wage subsidy.

The Queenstown Association of Migrant Pinoys says more than 500 Filipino migrants have sought welfare support in the resort town.