Covid 19 coronavirus Delta outbreak: Small tourism operators to fold amidst repeated lockdowns

Jeroen Jongejans fears small tourism operators in particular may not survive under frequent lockdowns. Photo / Supplied

Small tourism operators in Northland will fold and likely retrain in other fields if frequent lockdowns continue as a result of Covid.

Northland tourism leader Jeroen Jongejans sounded the warning ahead of the busy summer season when, for the second year, Kiwi visitors will make up almost all of the tourism spend if there are no lockdowns during the hotter months.

The Covid situation in Auckland, he said, would play a crucial part in the success or failure of Northland's peak tourism season.

Jongejans predicts it would be between 18 months and two years before international borders reopened.

"If Auckland is in lockdown, Northland basically becomes an island and it becomes very difficult to get visitors up here through Auckland. During winter last year there was a reasonable number of international tourists who were stranded and were looking to do something before they got back home.

"This winter has been different with no international visitors. In a way, it's good the lockdown is happening now because it allows tourism operators to make adjustments and get ready for when the lockdown is lifted."

Jongejans said a high uptake of Covid vaccination and contact tracing would be the key to giving people the freedom to move up and down New Zealand.

Lockdown extensions or further lockdowns would put particularly small tourism operators in Northland under immense pressure, he said.

"Northland's tourism industry has really developed in the last decade in terms of safety and the level of service, we have highly trained people but if there are no jobs then they'll go elsewhere such as getting a building apprenticeship.

"Small operators haven't got a lot of resources to keep going and if we keep having frequent lockdowns, they will be gone. If there's one lockdown in Auckland during peak season in December and January, that will wipe out 60 to 70 per cent of businesses in terms of sales up here.

"A lot of know-how and passion has gone into establishing and maintaining those businesses over the years and it will be hard to walk away from it. We in Northland provide great products and services but we need to be able to operate to survive," he said.

Jongejans said once about 80 per cent of New Zealand population was fully vaccinated, strategies similar to those developed by tourism operators in Europe could be set up to entice visitors to spend their money in Northland.

"The solution is for people to vaccinate. If you vaccinate, you may still be able to get Covid but it will significantly reduce the pressure on our health system. And with regular contact tracing, the chances are we can isolate any variant of Covid better and may need to lockdown specific areas only."

Tourism spend in Northland pre-Covid topped $1 billion.