Tourism under the hammer: RealNZ launches campaign to keep Kiwis travelling

RealNZ runs the TSS Earnslaw as well as other attractions in the South Island. Photo / Supplied

Tourism heavyweight RealNZ says current operating conditions are "horrendous" and the industry and Government will have to work hard to rebuild the sector.

The company is one of this country's biggest tourism groups, with assets and recreational experiences at destinations including Fiordland's Doubtful Sound, Queenstown's Walter Peak and Wanaka's Treble Cone.

As the Government comes under renewed pressure to provide targeted help for tourism and hospitality, RealNZ chief executive Stephen England-Hall said Queenstown, the company's base, appeared to be half full with visitors. The tourism town has assured potential visitor that it is open and ready to welcome them.

"It's very tough. It's certainly a lot bleaker than what some people think it might be."

While those with advance bookings were still turning up, other Kiwis — who earlier in the pandemic had been travelling domestically in large numbers — were avoiding going on holiday.

"It's been absolutely hammered. What we're dealing with now is a fear of people going to the letter box, so the idea of travelling to another part of the country right now for some people is too much. That isn't going to change and it will be the next couple of weeks or months as we get through the [Omicron] peak before people feel more at ease, in terms of travelling around."

England-Hall said conditions were tougher than under the old alert level 4 lockdowns.

"In some ways harder because at least when you're locked down, you know where everyone is. You know where your staff are, your customers are, and operationally you were closed."

Stephen England-Hall was formerly head of Tourism NZ. Photo / Nick Reed.

In the current settings businesses were not closed, but had to "run the gauntlet" of maintaining staffing and customer safety, with people potentially required to spend extended periods in isolation under the current guidelines.

"That's all fine, but obviously, it's difficult because we have to pay people regardless."

RealNZ, formerly Wayfare, was founded by Les and Olive Hutchins in 1954, providing guided tours by boat and foot around the South Island. It has since expanded to include ski-fields, jetboats, steam ships, trips to the fiords and Stewart Island, and the Antarctic Centre in Christchurch.

This week it launched a campaign to try to reignite interest in domestic travel by getting New Zealanders to fall in love with the country again.

England-Hall, who formerly headed Tourism New Zealand, said as the country emerged from the pandemic there would need to be a broad push to rebuild the international industry.

"As an industry we need international visitors. There's no sustainable industry without them."

He said it would take "a few years" to build back to a reasonable level of international visitors, who are bigger spenders than Kiwis.

"It's taken the country decades to build reputation, skills, knowledge, relationships, sales distribution networks and marketing alliances and aviation connectivity. It only took a matter of weeks for it to be decimated."

England-Hall said it would be unwise to underestimate the effort needed to rebuild the industry.

''Not just by business, but collectively as a country to build our reputation as a destination, our accessibility and openness and friendliness."

The pandemic's impact was laid bare by Stats NZ figures out this week which showed overseas visitor arrivals falling to 206,900 arrivals in 2021, well down on 1 million the year before, and 3.9 million before the pandemic in 2019.