Great South is co-ordinating the region’s business and economic response to Covid-19, and conducted a survey with about 700 Southland businesses.
"Not surprisingly, the biggest impact and most concerns came out from the tourism, food and hospitality sector," Great South chief executive Graham Budd said.
From the data collected, Great South found 61% of the businesses were either extremely or very concerned about their future; 31% were somewhat concerned and 9% were neutral or not concerned.
The biggest impact on the businesses was on cashflow, Mr Budd said.
About 71% of businesses had a drop in income of more than 30% , while 14% had experienced no change in their businesses.
"It is clear many businesses are facing hardship. We don't know how many have actually closed their doors. But we believe it is actually less than 1% so far."
He said a positive sign was that 90% of the businesses believed they would be able to survive for more than three months if they maintained their revenue levels from before the lockdown.
However, about 10% feared they would not be able to last longer than a month.
"As we are entering Level 3 next week, some businesses can start to trade again so this number can change," Mr Budd said.
"We have quite a lot of businesses which feel they will be working through this. This is encouraging."
He said the organisation was committed to supporting the region’s economic restart, and understanding the impact on the business sector was critical to that.
"We have gained valuable initial insights into what is required to encourage resilience in our local business environment on the long road to re-establish the Southland economy.
"These insights not only provide direction for our region’s planning and response, but also that of the Government."
