New Zealand has another coronavirus-related death - a man in his 60s from the Rosewood Rest Home in Christchurch. The country also has five new Covid-19 cases today - two confirmed and three probable.
Russ Hawkins, skipper and owner of Fat Boy Charters. Photo / File 160320gn07bop.JPG
One of Tauranga's iconic tourism business owners says the Covid-19 lockdown has meant culling 30 staff, which has been the most "heartbreaking" decision he has ever made.
Waimarino Adventure Park and Kayak Tours owner Blair Anderson saidthe impact of the lockdown on his business operation had been a "surreal" emotional experience.
Anderson said a week before the lockdown was announced he made the decision to close the business early after a flood of cancellations, including for his kayak glow worm tours.
The summer season had to be cut two months early, due to the curtailed cruise ship season. With no income and "horrendous outgoings" he had no choice, he said.
Waimarino Adventure Park and Kayak Tours owner Blair Anderson. Photo / File
Anderson said as one of the biggest tourism employers in the region, he was deeply saddened to have to reduce his staffing numbers from 40 to 10.
"Unfortunately, we may still need to cull that down to a maximum of five or six staff depending on how soon we get operational again.
"It's been heartbreaking, especially telling my staff, but this has been out of my control."
Anderson said it was thanks to Waimarino Education Trust, which is part of the business, that it would still have some income coming in the months ahead once the country moved to alert level 2.
The trust offered a wide range of educational and recreational activities for school-aged children including after-school care and holiday programmes.
But Anderson said some parts of his business might not be able to resume until October or November which would be a huge hit on the start of the next summer season.
He said he applauded the Government's wage subsidy scheme as a "great start", but he and other tourism operators would like to see more relief packages after the subsidy runs out.
Anderson's comments come on the heels of Ngāi Tahu Tourism's announcement on Thursday that it would shut its tourism operations, with the potential loss of more than 300 jobs across the country.
This included popular attractions Rainbow Springs Nature Park, Agrodome in Rotorua and Hukafalls Jet in Taupō which had fallen victim to the drop in patronage due to lockdown.
Taupō mayor David Trewavas said the closure of Ngāi Tahu Tourism operations had come as no surprise but he hoped the closure was only temporary.
He said Hukafalls Jet had been "extremely well-run and well-managed and it has been one of our star attractions".
Trewavas said he was not aware of other Taupō tourism operators set to follow suit, and hoped the district could bounce back from the lockdown due to its central location.
"Taupō's tourism economy is about 70 per cent domestic, and we're well poised to take advantage when people with cabin fever start to look around for somewhere to take a holiday."
Tauranga's Seatrek charters co-owner Tim Olsson said because of the social distancing rules it would not be able to resume business operations until alert level 2.
"Most of our customers are locals and from the sub-region domestic market," he said.
"We're currently in a holding pattern and, while it's frustrating, I think the Government has done very well to manage the lockdown in the way they have.
"I think it made sense to maintain lockdown for another wee while as we only want to do this once and easing the restriction too soon would be a bad idea."
Olsson said the business was badly impacted by the Rena oil spill but this was "far worse" and he hoped when it can start operating again that business picked up "very quickly".
Russ Hawkins, skipper and owner of Fat Boy Charters. Photo / File
Russ Hawkins, skipper and owner of Fat Boy Charters, said despite his business grinding to halt as a result of the lockdown he had no plans to shut up shop.
"I enjoy working with the people so much and I also thoroughly enjoy the lifestyle so I don't plan to retire any time soon," he said.
Hawkins, who had been operating the Fat Boy Charters for 20 years, said the business had its best financial year ever in 2019-20.
"Most of our customers are locals and from the domestic market but we can't operate our boat until the level 3 restrictions are lifted because of social distancing rules," he said
Miles Johnson, the owner of Day Trippers e-bike tours who launched his business in September last year, said he could not even think about resuming the business operation until level 2 or even alert level 1.
"Just like everybody else, we're in a state of partial shock and whether you have a tourism business or you're in retail or another type of business, everyone is going through a tough time," he said.
But Johnson said he had no plans to close the business and, like everyone else, he would look for new opportunities and "get on with it" when the restrictions were lifted.
Tourism Bay of Plenty chief executive Kristin Dunne said: "Our hearts are with Ngāi Tahu for the difficult decisions they are needing to make and the impact of those decisions on their employees and their whānau.
"Seeing these respected tourism brands cease operation is like watching a great kauri fall."
Dunne said this crisis was unpredictable and the length of the crisis would reveal the depth and the breadth of the fallout from a tourism perspective.
"For the coastal Bay of Plenty, international tourism has been about 20 per cent of our total market, so we are not as reliant on it as other cities and we are a place where New Zealanders love to holiday.
"We hope that after a hibernation period at level 3, we will be able to support our industry to re-start the manaakitanga (hospitality), with an increased enthusiasm for kaitiakitanga (guardianship) and kotahitanga (collaboration), " she said.
