Hospitality venues offer a warm welcome

Written by Cam Scott

the campaign to encourage Bay of Plenty residents to support their local restaurants, cafes, bars, hotels and motels as similar to the familiar “Buy Local” campaign.

“Wherever they live in the Bay of Plenty, we want people to think about going out for a meal or a social drink just like they did before the lockdown.

“The slowdown in Covid-19 cases is heartening and I’m sure the drop to Level 2 has given people more confidence. Everyone has been going to the supermarket during the lockdown and now they can go out for a meal or even a weekend away.”

He says while under Level 3 hospitality businesses were able to offer takeaways and contactless deliveries, many food businesses struggled to cope.

“I talked to the owners of some who opened for takeaways and they said they were busy on the first day, then trade dropped away.”

Operating at Level 3 was particularly difficult for hospitality businesses in Tauranga’s CBD, as the downtown area had been suffering from well-documented problems well before Covid-19 came along, he adds.

“It was interesting to see the international chain stores doing big business, but they had a major advantage in that they already operated drive-through facilities.”

Now that Bay of Plenty residents can enjoy a much greater variety of food and drink options and are no longer confined largely to their homes, Hennessey predicts they will eager to make the most of their new freedom.

And he’s confident enterprising hospitality businesses will do everything possible to meet the health and safety standards required under Level 2.

He is eager to see renewed support for motels and hotels which have been devastated by the loss of the domestic and tourist trade.

“We’re taking the challenge of re-opening head-on. We’re doing it for ourselves, our families and our cities and towns.

“We are all social creatures and we love to engage in social activity in our bars, restaurants and cafes. We haven’t been able to do that for a long time.

“The staff of many hospitality businesses are right on the edge as far as their employment future are is concerned. Tourism has been slaughtered and it’s time for us all to support our hospitality industry in any way we can.”

The Bay of Plenty branch of Hospitality New Zealand represents about 190 businesses spread across the region. Sciascia says declaration of Level 2 is a relief after six weeks of worry that many of them might not survive.

The abrupt lockdown in late March shut down thousands of hospitality businesses all over New Zealand and cast doubt on the futures of tens of thousands of workers.

“Many people rely on these businesses for their livelihoods – not just the owners and staff, but everyone in the supply chain including farmers, growers, harvesters, processors and retailers, and the cleaners and tradesmen who help maintain them,” Sciascia says.

“They are largely Mum and Dad type businesses employing anything from two to 22 people. The shutdown happened very quickly, so not only were a lot of people suddenly unemployed, but a large amount of expensive supplies also went to waste.”

Hennessey, who owns an Irish-themed bar in Rotorua, says while hospitality businesses did receive government help with staff wages, owners still faced major costs including Kiwisaver payments and holiday pay as well as rent and lease payments on businesses that had to stay closed. While the drop to Level 2 is welcomed, it has involved considerable re-opening and re-stocking costs.

The Bay of Plenty branch of the Hospitality New Zealand strongly supports local businesses, Hennessey adds, and the decision to run its awareness campaign in newspapers rather than through social media was deliberate.

“We wanted to reach a wide cross-section of people and at the same time support local newspapers and their hundreds of employees.”