Tears flow as tourism sheds staff

Businesses in Queenstown are shutting up shop as tourist numbers plummet and revenues dry up.

Economic Development Minister Phil Twyford and Tourism Minister Kelvin Davis met with representatives at an urgent meeting, chaired by Queenstown Lakes District mayor Jim Boult, in the resort town on Thursday to discuss the ‘‘dire’’ situation.

It was exacerbated by the wider border restrictions announced on Thursday, essentially banning all non-New Zealand residents.

Twyford said after the meeting that the economic situation for Queenstown and the surrounding districts was daunting.

‘‘Tourism globally has collapsed and Queenstown is not immune to that.’’

Adventure Group managing director Stefan Crawford, whose company operates Canyon Explorers, has made more than half his 15 staff redundant and is suspending business from Tuesday.

‘‘Numbers have dried up. There is no more work. Our revenue has completely gone,’’ he said.

‘‘We have managed to keep a small core of staff to help with various jobs – storing away equipment and other chores – but there is only so much cleaning you can do.’’

The impact was devastating, he said. ‘‘We run a pretty tight ship. The emotional rollercoaster has been huge. There have been tears.’’

The Government’s wage subsidy package was of no use to a business like his that relied solely on tourists for income. It required a signed declaration saying the employee will be kept in a job, and the employer will ‘‘top up’’ the subsidy.

‘‘In many cases it’s another $250 and $300 a week . . . Multiply that by 15 and my company would be bankrupt before the 12 weeks.

‘‘We have no income for the additional top-up.’’

Other businesses had also started laying off staff around town, he said. Quinton Hall, the chief executive of Ngāi Tahu Tourism, which owns Shotover Jet, said customers were dwindling fast.

Up to 500 customers a day would usually be jet-boating at this time of year.

‘‘We are down to about 200 [a day] and we expect that to halve then halve again, then halve a day over the next few days.’’

Ngāi Tahu employs 50 people at its Shotover operation and 500 in the wider group, but has not yet made redundancies.

‘‘We haven’t yet but we have to look at everything we can to survive this. When your revenue is virtually drying up in front of your eyes and your cost base isn’t, the financial impact is horrendous.’’

Twyford said that while the Government was looking at how to help ‘‘larger and more complex’’ businesses, owners should start talking to the banks.

The situation was survivable, he said. ‘‘There will be a lot of pain and businesses are going to have to be very innovative to trade their way through this . . . There is also a determination to see this out and make sure we have an industry that survives to recover as numbers come back again.’’

‘‘The emotional

rollercoaster has been huge.’’ Stefan Crawford Adventure Group managing director