Urgent plea to Government for skifield workers

Ski Areas Association of NZ says highly-specialised roles within the industry are essential for the ski areas' safe operation. Photo / ODT

New Zealand ski areas have sent an urgent appeal to the government to bring critical international workers into the country ahead of the 2021 ski season.

Without them, some ski areas will not be able to operate at all, others may only be able to operate at 50 per cent for the season, and some may only be able to offer 50 per cent visitor capacity.

The plea was sent by Ski Areas Association of NZ (SAANZ) on behalf of all ski areas in the country, which says highly-specialised roles within the industry — such as ski patrol, ski/snowboard instructors, lift technicians and snow groomers — are essential for the ski areas' safe operation.

Those roles were generally filled by a small number of workers who travelled between hemispheres for the ski season, but who were now unable to enter NZ due to Covid-19 border closures.

Queenstown economist Benje Patterson said the implications of not securing the workers went beyond the ski areas.

Last year's domestic-only season in the Southern Lakes exceeded 600,000 skier days, injecting about $169 million of visitor spending into the economy, which was enough to support about 3025 seasonal jobs in the Queenstown Lakes alone.

Patterson said if ski areas in Queenstown and Wanaka were able to operate at only 50 per cent capacity, or for only half this winter, the economy could lose $84 million and potentially 1512 seasonal jobs.

"The numbers are pretty sobering for me, particularly as the baseline season (2020) was centred on domestic visitation alone.

"I have not modelled a scenario of additional lost earnings for if the trans-Tasman bubble miraculously opens up in time for the ski season," he said.

The New Zealand ski industry had collaborated on a sustainable workforce strategy, outlining short-term needs and a long-term plan, including the urgent need to approve the travel of the skilled workers.

That strategy had been communicated with the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE), but SAANZ was still waiting to hear on the status of the "critical" workers.