Covid 19 coronavirus: Rotorua businesses lose thousands in cancelled bookings

Some local businesses are losing thousands of dollars in cancelled bookings with one business owner saying not only have they lost the Auckland market but locals are scared to go out too.

The extension of the wage subsidy has been a welcome relief however, some business owners are anxious to see the detail and whether they will be eligible.

The Government yesterday extended Auckland's level 3 lockdown for another 12 days. The rest of the country will remain at alert level 2 for the same period.

Rotorua Chamber of Commerce chief executive Bryce Heard urged businesses to stay calm.

Heard said the whole country was disappointed with the community cases but said there was only one option which was, "to deal with it".

"We are telling businesses not to panic. The experts are hitting it hard and early so hopefully that will mean we can return to the new normal soon."

Heard said there was not a lot of detail about what the criteria will be for the extended wage subsidy but said it would "certainly be helpful".

Hennessy's Irish Bar owner Reg Hennessy said staying at level 2 was a tough situation for the hospitality industry, describing it as "no man's land".

"We continue to operate, have to social distance, have to have more staff on, so our costs are the same, if not higher, but everybody is hunkering down, nobody is coming through the door.

"People are scared and when they are scared they don't want to travel. Not only have we lost all our Auckland business, which was a big chunk of our domestic market, but locals are cancelling too.

"Staying at level 2 was the worst situation for the hospitality sector."

Hennessy said every function he had booked for this weekend and into next week had cancelled, taking thousands of dollars in revenue.

"It's going to be very tough. The extension of the wage subsidy is great but of course, the devil is in the details and we haven't been given those details yet."

Urbano Bistro owner Richard Sewell employs 19 staff and said the restaurant had lost about 100 bookings in the past three days.

"This weekend is looking to be really quiet. Not having the Auckland market will create an interesting time for our city."

Redwoods Treewalk co-founder and director Bruce Thomasen said the targeted lockdown was the more reasonable approach.

"It was absolutely a relief knowing we would be able to continue operating and servicing the other 40 per cent of travellers from outside Auckland.

"If it comes to a point where the country has to go into lockdown again, there will be a number of businesses under significant stress the second time around.

"The extension of the wage subsidy was essential. The loss in revenue from Auckland being at level 3 needs to be cushioned to ensure businesses can keep operating and keep people employed."

Atlantis Books owner Fraser Newman said he was anticipating that the city would go into alert level 3.

"We were prepared for that. Obviously level 2 allows us to trade, but we anticipate things will be quiet. There's a lot of nervous people out there."

He said the extension of the wage subsidy was a positive development and "something to keep an eye on".

"I doubt we'll qualify but one thing this teaches us is things change quickly."

Rotorua Hotel Association president Blair Chalmers said with Auckland at alert level 3, hotels were losing money daily.

"They're our biggest market. Realistically, across all the hotels I think it would be safe to say $100,000 of business has been lost since the [first] announcement."

He said hotels had costs more under control since the first lockdown so they would be more able to weather the increased alert levels.

"People may be slightly more cautious about travelling once we're back at level 1 but I think we will still see a bounce back. We have tourist attractions and mountain biking which you can't find anywhere else in New Zealand so that will be a major asset in the city's ability to survive."