Today’s confirmation from the Government that New Zealand will move to Level 1 from midnight tonight, has been welcomed
by Hospitality New Zealand.
The association has been strongly advocating for the strict restrictions placed on the hospitality sector to be lifted
for some time now, as many local bars, cafes, restaurants and accommodation providers continue to struggle, impacting
the lives of hundreds of thousands of Kiwis.
Hospitality New Zealand Chief Executive, Julie White, says transitioning to Level 1 means that many hospitality
operators can now begin to reclaim a sense of normality and that it will provide customers the much-needed confidence to
go out and safely socialise (and spend) again.
“Today’s news of no active COVID-19 cases is a significant achievement that our team of five million should all be proud
of. The hospitality sector has also shown incredible resilience throughout this difficult time banding together to
ensure that the health and safety of our communities remains paramount.
“They’ve been forced to adapt to different ways of operating as each level has decreased, and the restrictions that
hospitality operators (and their customers) have had to wrestle with have been incredibly challenging - so, we’re very
excited to be getting back to business.”
Hospitality New Zealand expects that with restrictions such as social distancing and table service restraints lifted,
businesses in the hospitality and accommodation sectors will start to recover and slowly return, over time, to
profitability.
While some accommodation providers and leisure hotspots saw a return to normal visitor and occupancy levels over Queen’s
Birthday weekend, the following day’s return saw a huge dip - with a mere 5% occupancy rate in the accommodation sector,
demonstrating the long road ahead to recovery.
The full year forecast predicts a 30% occupancy (at best) for accommodation and hotel providers. Similarly, the
challenges of COVID-19 have also led to a 30% reduction in employment across the hospitality sector.
While the recently announced changes to the Wage Subsidy extension is expected to assist an additional 40,000 businesses
across the country, this alone won’t be enough to save many operators in the industry.
“The hospitality sector relies on people - tourists, office workers, social gatherings and foot traffic. With Kiwis now
encouraged to go back to their workplaces, this presents a huge opportunity for people to support their local
hospitality businesses.
“We’re still asking all our members to display their QR codes so that customers can continue to track their own
movements for contact tracing purposes,” says White.
Hospitality New Zealand also supports the proposed development of the Government ‘smart border’ concept as it will
enable some international tourists to return here sooner and open up a much-needed opportunity for the hospitality and
tourism sector.
“The quicker we can move out of our current micro-economy, the better. As a nation, we’ve shown solidarity and performed
incredibly well to fight this health crisis. With the transition to Level 1, we can all step up and play our part in
supporting the full recovery of Kiwi businesses which have been hit so hard,” concludes White.