Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • New Zealand Listener

    TOURISM TRAP

    May 01, 2022 11 minutes
    by DALE OWENS

    It’s been a while since the Aussie twang has been heard in some of Aotearoa’s most scenic spots. From the middle of April, however, rare sightings of Aussie tourists have become more common, as New Zealand has finally joined many other countries in prising open international borders.

    Our trans-Tasman neighbours were the first to be welcomed back, in time for the school holidays. “The school holidays are going well now. Being back at Orange is a help and people are out and about travelling, so that’s great,” says Ann-Marie Johnson, from Tourism Industry Aotearoa. “What we are hearing from operators, though, is that it’s mainly New Zealanders coming back from Australia rather than actual Australians coming here for a holiday.”

    From the beginning of May, more exotic species – including vaccinated travellers from other large tourist markets, such as the UK, US, Japan, Germany, South Korea and Singapore – will also begin to trickle back.

    For many tourism businesses, the flow of international travellers can’t come soon enough. “If this had gone on for any longer and, for example say, the borders had been closed for another six months, I categorically know that you were going to see a large number of tourism businesses give up, throw the keys away and say, ‘I’ve had enough’,” says Nigel Hobbs, managing director of Altitude Tours, in Queenstown.

    Hobbs and his partner, Heidi Farren, got into the tourism business in 2017. They started with small group wine tours around the Gibbston Valley, and soon expanded into daily tours of Milford and Mt Cook. They started New Zealand’s first gin tour, and also operate a luxury brand, Black. The past two years have been hell, he says.

    “I ended up selling things like the caravan, my car, artwork. I certainly have taken a very big personal hit.”

    “We have

    You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

    More from New Zealand Listener

    New Zealand Listener1 min read
    Friday May 10
    Ruby is a bright but out-of-place scholarship student at Maxton Hall private school, trying to slip through unnoticed to her dream of studying at Oxford. But when she becomes witness to a secret, she attracts the unwanted attention of millionaire hei
    New Zealand Listener1 min read
    10 Quick Questions
    ❑ Madonna ❑ Taylor Swift ❑ Blondie ❑ Lady Gaga ❑ Paris ❑ Lyon ❑ Orléans ❑ Montreal ❑ Julius Caesar ❑ Hamlet ❑ Cymbeline ❑ Romeo and Juliet ❑ Beatrice ❑ Eugenie ❑ Charlotte ❑ Louisa ❑ Animals ❑ Trains ❑ Plants ❑ Microbiology ❑ Oste
    New Zealand Listener5 min read
    Good For A Laugh
    Alice Snedden could be considered Larry David to Rose Matafeo’s Jerry Seinfeld. After a five-year stand-up hiatus, the collaborator on Matafeo’s excellent romcom Starstruck steps back into the spotlight with Highly Credible. Hoping to take home the

    Related