Post-Covid business numbers best in six years for escape room business 'Escapade'

Jayne Lusk, from Escapade NZ, says companies on post-Covid team-building missions have kept her in business. Photo / Dean Purcell

Being stuck in a room so soon after lockdown might sound like the stuff of nightmares - but New Zealanders are loving it.

Auckland escape room "Escapade" has just had one of the busiest months in its six-year history.

Visitors to the central Auckland business choose from six different rooms, then a timer is set giving them 60 minutes to find clues, solve the mystery and escape.

Co-owners Jayne Lusk and Helen Whittle said the two-month closure over lockdown brought a huge financial hit to the small business but visitor numbers were now up 30 per cent up compared to the same time last year.

"We are in central Auckland and have a Kiwi theme so a lot of our visitors were international tourists," Jayne Lusk said.

"We have obviously lost those people so we took a big financial hit during lockdown and we didn't know if we would recover after."

But in the past month - boosted by the school holidays - business was well up on the same period last year.

Jayne Lusk, from Escapade NZ, says companies on post-Covid team-building missions have kept her in business. Photo / Dean Purcell

"We hoped the school holidays would be good, but they were so much better than we expected," Lusk said.

"Kiwis came out and really supported local businesses, which was really nice to see."

Escapade had more than 2000 people through the six rooms in July, and extra staff were rostered this week to cope with bookings.

Corporate bookings were particularly strong as companies worked to reconnect teams post-Covid.

"It is a great way to get staff to engage and work together on something they have never done before," Lusk said.

All rooms have a Kiwi theme which has been as popular with New Zealanders as it was with tourists. Photo / Supplied

"A lot of people have come back to work after lockdown and they have had a reshuffle or lost staff so it is a good way to build the team up again."

Escapade runs team-building workshops with additional analysis on how the team has worked together over a drink and nibbles if required.

"It is a fun way to figure out how the team interacts and how they can improve things going forward," Lusk said.

The six rooms range in difficulty and are all based on Kiwiana themes such as The Bach (where Granny has left a cryptic message), The Boatshed, fantasy room The Tavern and Old School, which includes two identical rooms so two teams can go head to head.

There is also an outdoor adventure room and another room due to be unveiled in August.

Lusk was cautiously optimistic the lift in business would continue.

"We are working on a new exciting room which is due to open soon," she said.

"We know we will never make up the loss we had during lockdown, but we are really hopeful for the rest of the year."