The domestic tourism sector was rocked by the red light setting in February. Photo / Supplied
The domestic tourism sector was rocked by the red light setting in February. Photo / Supplied
Omicron battered the accommodation sector during February, emphasising the pain tourism operators are suffering as they wait for international visitors to return.
Government figures show the number of guest nights plunged 22 per cent to 1.8 million for the month as the country was in the red setting of thetraffic light system.
The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment found the national occupancy rate for February fell from 42.5 per cent in 2021 to 34.9 per cent this year.
The Accommodation Data Programme (ADP) measures the activity of core tourism accommodation providers, excluding managed isolation and quarantine (MIQ) facilities and emergency housing.
All regions were in the red setting throughout February in response to widespread community transmission of the Omicron variant.
In comparison, for most of February 2021, all regions except for Auckland were at alert level 1, meaning fewer restrictions were in place.
The ministry says the ongoing Omicron outbreak, that started in January, led to hesitancy in domestic travel in February and all Region Tourism Organisations (RTOs) saw a fall in guest nights.
For all RTOs, the number of guest nights in February fell between 2021 and 2022. Whanganui had the largest fall of 38 per cent.
Auckland accommodation providers - hit hard by last year's 107-day lockdown after a border failure in August - suffered a 24 per cent fall in February compared to a year earlier, with 183,600 guest nights.
The entire accommodation sector, including campgrounds, was hit by Omicron. Photo / Stephen Parker
Holiday park and campground guest nights fell to 628,000, down 24 per cent on February 2021.
National occupancy rates fell 7.6 percentage points.
Occupancy rates fell across all RTOs except for Central Otago, because of a loss of available capacity rather than an increase in occupied capacity.
Rotorua and Tairāwhiti closely followed the fall in guest nights in February 2022, both down 37 per cent to 47,000 and 37,000 respectively.
All arrivals will have to show a negative Covid test, a requirement tourism rival Australia is ditching on April 17.
Tourism Minister Stuart Nash told the virtual Otago Tourism Policy School on Friday morning the return of visitors from Australia was a huge milestone.
And following the reconnection with Australia and visa-waiver countries, the next big leap is to completely re-open to all countries.
He said the decisions would not only affect our tourism operators but over time would re-energise entire communities.
"However, we know that the impact of Covid-19 will continue to be felt, and international visitors from some big markets are not likely to return in large numbers straight away," Nash said.
"Covid-19 changed the world, and we can't expect that tourism will remain unchanged. We're unlikely to see an immediate return to 2019 levels, but nor should we want to – it was unsustainable, and some of our communities were bearing the brunt of its impact."
Nash gave more details of the "high-value" visitors he was seeking.
"We want people to visit our country who have an interest in the environment and who want to engage with our culture. People who will go off the beaten track and seek out new experiences and be thoughtful about the ways that they interact with our land and communities."
He said the country should seek visitors who will become advocates for travelling here because they had wonderful, rich experiences that contributed to the country's regenerative goals.
This did not exclude the backpackers or budget-conscious travellers.
"They will always be welcome and that is why we moved quickly to re-open the working holiday visa applications."
