Tourism troubles: ‘We are really worried about summer’

Tourism operators are optimistic for the summer ahead, despite some suffering through a long, harsh winter.

Industry leaders are gathering in Auckland today for the annual Tourism Summit Aotearoa to discuss the challenges and opportunities facing the industry.

In Northland, Aimee O’Keeffe is preparing for her first summer after buying Ahipara TOP 10 Holiday Park four weeks ago.

Her family has been involved in holiday parks since she was a child.

“We’re looking pretty good at the moment, steady. Our roofed accommodation is quite busy throughout end of December – beginning of January, and then our sites are starting to fill up,” she said.

The cost of living was putting pressure on a lot of people and their travel plans, she said.

“I hope that, economically, a holiday park still remains viable for a lot of those families and it does look like it is and it’s still a priority for people to save and make that special week-two week holiday in the New Zealand summer happen,” O’Keeffe said.

They were building a new facilities block with hopes they could host more people in the future.

Sudima Hotels and Hind Management chief operating officer Les Morgan said it was probably the worst winter he had experienced in the past 30 years – apart from the Covid years.

“What that means going into summer is that you tend to have a very conservative approach. We’re more mindful of costs and reducing services. You kind of lose a bit of confidence,” he said.

They were expecting a strong spring, but instead they had been experiencing wash – when wholesale companies make reservations but not all of the bookings materialise – which was another blow to revenue and confidence.

They still had booked out periods during summer – with bookings in the South Island looking strong, but they were facing shorter summers and longer shoulder seasons, he said.

“You have these carrying costs and then you’ve got to reduce staff when demand’s not there and it’s terribly inefficient. It’s stressful on everyone concerned,” he said.

“We are really worried about summer. Like I say, there will be periods and you may read that or hear on the radio that things are good, but it’s very much pockets and that lumpiness is really difficult to manage.”

Waka Abel Tasman co-director Lee-Anne Jago remained hopeful about what the summer would bring.

It was not uncommon for bookings to coming through the week or even day before a trip, but she had expected better numbers for some groups, Jago said.

“One is the tour groups coming through. They don’t seem to be as high in numbers as there has been the last couple of seasons, and also our top end market is a little bit lighter,” she said.

Last minute bookings could make it tricky to prepare for summer.

“We need to make sure that we’ve got enough staff available. But obviously not too many staff because we need to make sure that our staff get the right amount of work,” she said.

In Te Anau, Fiordland Historic Cruises owner-operator Adam Butcher said about 60 percent of their guests were either from New Zealand or Australia.

They were grateful to have bookings coming through despite tougher economic times, he said.

“Our summer bookings coming through are really promising. They’re up quite a touch on last year,” he said.

“At risk of sounding like old news, we are still in Covid recovery and it’s really delightful to see every year getting stronger since.”

Tourism Summit Aotearoa kicks off on Wednesday morning in Auckland.

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