Will industry & gov team up to save sector?
New Zealand’s tourism industry has announced it is ready and willing to work with the government on the revival of the industry but needs immediate action and a clear roadmap to recovery, Tourism Industry Aotearoa says.
In response to Tourism Minister Stuart Nash’s speech to the Otago University Tourism Policy School Conference in Queenstown last week, TIA Chief Executive Chris Roberts says the tourism industry is ready for the challenge of being a partner with Government in building back better.
“The Minister’s acceptance that tourism needs further assistance to get through 2021 is welcomed, including assistance for businesses that need to suspend their operations, regionally targeted programmes, and help with mental stress and fatigue. We look forward to seeing the details which we were told would be coming in a couple of weeks,” Mr Roberts says.
TIA endorses the Minister’s comment that as we transition to a new tourism, we cannot leave people, businesses and communities behind.
The business, community and mental health support is needed urgently. If our borders open to Australian travellers in the next few weeks, it will be a huge help but it is not the full answer, Mr Roberts says.
“Tourism is taking one for the team of five million, to keep New Zealand safe. That sacrifice needs to be acknowledged and responded to.”
Longer term, TIA agrees with the Minister that an intergenerational view is needed and that the pandemic has provided a chance to address some long term systemic issues that haven’t been properly addressed by previous governments.
In response to a question from Mr Roberts, Mr Nash revealed that the Tourism Futures Taskforce report, which he has had since early December, would finally be released in a couple of weeks but he would not be making any comment on it.
Mr Nash indicated he planned to create a new group to provide him with ongoing advice.
“This is disappointing, given the huge time and resource the industry put into developing the report. It was intended to provide the blueprint for the future course of tourism but is now being seen as just a useful input into government thinking,” Mr Roberts says.
Hospitality NZ also said it welcomes targeted support but cautioned against unnecessary structural change.
“The targeted support is wonderful news for Queenstown-Lakes, South Westland, Fiordland, the Mackenzie District, and Kaikoura, because they are hurting tremendously from the tourist downturn,” says Chief Executive Julie White.
Stress and fatigue in the sector is becoming an epidemic, and we’ve been asking for something like this for some time. It will go some way to alleviating that.
“We also welcome the move to look at the future of the industry post-COVID but we caution about in some instances not to make change for change sake.
“There’s a lot of good stuff that’s happening that will continue to work.
“We must be careful not throw the baby out with the bath water, because not everything is broken. Much of it just needs a tweak. We must rebuild on what’s already good in the industry
We need to keep the bits that are working, because they are what New Zealand is renowned for.
“Hospitality has been warming welcoming strangers for years and there is no need to change much of that.
“Hospitality NZ is ready, willing, and able be at the forefront of any change that’s needed and to work with the sector and the Government.
“In particular, we see great opportunities around re-setting training, but this must be by industry, for industry. We will welcome Government input but this must be industry-led.”
Julie White says it’s vital a trans-Tasman bubble is the next move.
“This is now urgent. The targeted support is great, but we can’t expect that forever. We need tourists to back it up.
“The Australians want to make it happen, and we need to as well.
“Time is ticking. They will wait for us for only so long before they open up other routes like Singapore and elsewhere, and we don’t want to be the bridesmaid when they do that. We need to be part of any larger bubble they open.
“With a current lack of community cases in both countries – nearly 60 days in New South Wales, Queensland, and Tasmania – there’s no reason a bubble with Australia can’t happen now.
“It’s a matter of survival for thousands of businesses.”
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