Backpackers are back in the Bay of Plenty

Tauranga hostel Wanderlust New Zealand manager Davide Mantineo and owner Sarah Meadows. Photo / Mead Norton

It fell as low as 3 per cent when borders were closed but occupancy rates at some backpackers have bounced back and providers say things are "back like the old days".

While the number of backpacker hostels in New Zealand has dropped significantly since the pandemic began and borders shut, demand has been high in the past month for those still operating.

Wanderlust NZ and Pacific Coast Lodge owner Sarah Meadows said they had been exceptionally busy since September, and occupancy levels at both hostels in October matched pre-Covid numbers.

"We were very excited and happy to reach that. It's given us great confidence going forward for the season.

"Our bookings are coming in thick and fast."

People tended to book for longer stays, which Meadows said was because they knew the beds were in hot demand.

Figures on the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment-funded Accommodation Data Programme showed there were 207 backpacker accommodation providers in the country in September compared with 259 in September last year.

In the Bay of Plenty there were 12 compared with 14 the year before, and in Rotorua there are five. There were eight in September last year. This included both active and non-active.

Meadows said the hostels were 20 per cent occupied in October last year. Now it was sitting about 85 per cent.

It was a relief after the past few years, Meadows said, and they all had smiles on their faces.

"The vibe in the hostel is just incredible ... it's back like the old days."

But it was not just the guests' return she was celebrating, but that they "finally" had a pool of staff.

"It is very much a working holiday visa type of job."

Immigration Minister Michael Wood said more than 34,200 working holiday visa applications had been approved as of October 31, with 14,400 visa holders arriving in New Zealand since borders reopened.

As of November 5, 34,435 working holiday visa applications had been approved, with 15,637 arriving.

All the new visa holders will have open work rights, can work in New Zealand for 12 months with multiple-entry rights, and must be in New Zealand by January 31.

Mount Backpackers owner Jo Veale agreed things had been busy since the Zespri AIMS Games in early September, and the usual post-games lull before summer had not happened.

Generally, things were looking positive and "on the up", with the hostel full.

"It's wonderful, it's amazing to have the cultural diversity."

She said being by the beach, they had been lucky throughout the border closure with the number of domestic tourists.

She did not feel the number of closures of backpackers nationwide was reflective of how the sector had fared overall.

She was critical of the immigration system, and said several guests extending their WHV had issues needing to get documents from their home country.

An instance she gave was a Canadian woman who needed to pay someone in Canada $3000 to get a police document because it had expired during her time in New Zealand.

A spokesperson for Wood said Covid-19 brought the world to a standstill.

"While we can ensure the ability for those to come and work here, we acknowledge that people-to-people movement globally remains slow when compared to pre-Covid levels, and this is being particularly felt by the hospitality and tourism sectors who traditionally rely on international workers."

He said in order to help such sectors retain staff, it extended the visas of working holidaymakers already in New Zealand with visas expiring between August 26, 2022, and May 31, 2023, by six months.

"We have also provided an additional opportunity for those who previously held a working holiday visa but didn't travel due to Covid-19 to come to New Zealand for the summer."

He said there would always be some cases that were unique or had circumstances that meant they took longer, but Immigration New Zealand was committed to helping make the immigration process as easy as possible for customers while also ensuring key immigration requirements were met.

Rotorua's Rock Solid Backpackers owner Belinda Hargreaves said visa holders looking to stay for longer than a few weeks struggled to find accommodation, so building staff back up had been slow.

Rock Solid Backpackers in Hinemoa St, Rotorua. Photo / Laura Smith

But occupancy was another story.

She had made the decision to remain open for domestic visitors during the border closure, and had been running at just 3 per cent full.

In the past few months, however, this had jumped to 60-100 per cent.

She said the backpackers had been busy: "It's all looking very positive for summer."

Tourism Bay of Plenty general manager Oscar Nathan said a few months ago it felt like a novelty to spot someone strolling down the footpath with a large backpack on.

"It's been really rewarding to see these traveller numbers increasing and we hope that the accommodation providers who experienced dire times while the border was closed will now be reaping the rewards of their resilience."

"It's also become obvious just how much New Zealand needs these types of travellers - the seasonal or casual work they often do while they're here will help address the staff shortages that sectors like hospitality and horticulture are experiencing."

Its data shows 68 per cent of contributing backpacker accommodation in the Coastal Bay of Plenty was occupied during September. This represented about 3300 guests spending 11,000 nights in the region.

International visitors accounted for 6100 of these guest nights, while the remaining 4900 were domestic visitors. These guests spent an average of 3.4 nights in local backpackers.

That was the busiest month for backpackers in our region for the 12 months ended September 30, and represented a "significant increase" from the average 2100 guest nights recorded during the previous three months (June to August this year).

"With our international border only reopening at the end of July, coupled with the fact that most people need time to plan their international travel, we fully expect upcoming data to show occupancy levels having risen a lot more since then."

Rotorua NZ marketing manager and Rotorua-based Backpacker Youth Adventure Travel Association board member Haydn Marriner said backpackers were returning to the city in solid numbers and key suppliers were able to fill up buses and rental campervans.

The largest demographic was the 25-34 age group.

"With the steady flow of working holiday visas being utilised, we hope that we will see long-term, sustained growth from this extremely important sector to our visitor economy."