The decimated tourism and travel sectors must wait longer for the Government’s plan to reopen the borders.
Apaper on options was presented to Cabinet today and in the latest announcement about an announcement, Deputy Prime Minister Grant Robertson said details of the Government’s would be outlined on Thursday.
The tourism sector has suffered a $16 billion hit from the absence of overseas visitors and one industry leader warns of further “carnage”.
The Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment released data on Monday that showed international tourism spending has fallen 91 per cent since Covid-19 closed borders.
While domestic tourism expenditure increased 2.6 per cent from $24 billion in 2020 to $24.6bin 2021, this was far outweighed by the plunge in international tourism expenditure from $17.7b in 2020 to $1.5b in 2021.
Overall, total tourism expenditure plummeted by $15.6b.
The number of people directly employed for tourism decreased by a third (from 219,000 to 146,000) over the same period.
James Doolan, the strategic director of Hotel Council Aotearoa said time was ticking and would have liked more detail today.
Limiting border crossings and forcing healthy, vaccinated and Covid-tested travellers of any nationality to isolate makes no sense when domestic cases could soon be significantly higher than border cases.
”The stark reality is that with each passing day, any decision to keep spending millions of dollars locking our borders down becomes harder and harder to justify,” he said.
The arrival of Omicron in New Zealand – when a large proportion of the population had not had booster vaccinations – had forced the Government to delay plans to reopen to Kiwis without going through quarantine.Plans for those coming back from Australiabeing able to skip MIQ from mid-January were scrapped.
Time is also getting critical for airlines.
Board of Airline Representatives executive director Justin Tighe-Umbers said the critical piece of the puzzle for airlines was when travellers will be able to enter New Zealand quarantine free.
International experience showed planes fill fast once quarantine-free travel starts again.
New Zealand has until mid-February to let airlines know to avoid missing a third summer in a row.
”Airlines lock in their schedules early March, and if they don’t think they can fill their aircraft, they will put them in countries where they can. The UK, Europe, US and Australia are all starting to let travellers in quarantine-free.”
Tourism Export Council of New Zealand chief executive Lynda Keene said she hoped the plan on Thursday reflected a different approach.
”If Omicron becomes endemic in New Zealand, there will be no health reason to keep our borders closed or to continue self-isolation or MIQ for international arrivals.”
Border settings that still include a visitor to self-isolate will crush international tourism if not removed.
”Airlines and offshore travel partners need certainty to sell and if barriers are put in the way, they simply will not sell New Zealand. The medium to long-term risk is airlines will not return for two to five years..”
International travel bookings by Inbound Tour Operators (ITOs) are working 12 to 24 months ahead of a visitor arriving in New Zealand.
Operators were encountering a number of businesses who say they can’t provide rates for 2023 because there is a chance they might not be around in three months’ time.
”We know a lot of businesses have been holding on by the skin of their teeth, waiting and praying a ray of hope would emerge.”
The move to the red setting in the traffic light framework had confused Kiwis on the safety of NZ travel and created a lot of hesitancy.
”The hundreds of cancellations across the tourism, hospitality and events sector has created carnage. It has also added to the existing stress and anxiety business owners are carrying in order to try and save jobs. Tourism businesses are tired,” said Keene.
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