Bay businesses happy to welcome Aussies But not keen to lose holidaying Kiwis’ cash
Nigel Tutt, Priority One chief executive, said the tourism industry would appreciate any extra business.
“Equally, there will be plenty of Kiwis wanting to spend money overseas.”
With Australia being New Zealand’s second-largest trading partner, any strengthening of access into the market would be positive for exporters, he said.
“The bubble also has the positive effect of freeing up managed isolation space which should help reunite families, gain highly skilled migrants and get more home.”
Helloworld Travel the Crossing Tauranga owner Steve Marshall said while a bubble would provide an obvious economic benefit, there would be a greater impact among people.
“We have had a significant amount of inquiry from our clients asking when they can visit friends
Kiwis back and family in Australia,” he said.
“A number of our clients are so looking forward to seeing new grandchildren who they have not yet had the opportunity to meet and hug.” Hospitality New Zealand accommodation sector Bay of Plenty chairman and 850 Cameron Motel owner Tony Bullot said it was frustrating it had taken so long for the bubble to go both ways.
However, the business would be welcomed.
He said pre-covid, Australian corporates treated travelling to Tauranga as domestic travel.
“Staying for two to three days, because flying from Sydney to here is not much different than flying from Sydney to somewhere else.”
He said accommodation providers had not been hiring more staff for the potential of future business as there was too much uncertainty.
He said the city had been lucky compared to the rest of New Zealand
with a strong corporate market.
“Woohoo, we have a bubble . . . we could’ve had a bubble three months ago.”
Tauranga Chamber of Commerce chief executive Matt Cowley said the bubble was “well overdue” with the likely first wave of transtasman tourists to mostly be visiting family and friends — which was one of the region’s top type of visitors.
He said the chamber has been a “big supporter” of the bubble as both countries showed they could successfully manage community infections.
It’s not just the tourism sector that would benefit, he said, as there were plenty of people who needed to do business across the Tasman, including the economic and social benefits of transtasman sports competitions getting back to normal.
He said it was important that there were strong contact tracing systems and readily available community testing in place when it happened.
“Being able to quickly identify and isolate those impacted by community spread events is going to be critical to the success of future bubbles.”
He believed the bubble was needed well before the winter tourism season started so tourists, event planners, and operators had time to gear up and make bookings.
Hospitality New Zealand Bay of Plenty regional manager Alan Sciascia said there were some advantages as well as potential disadvantages.
A bubble with Australia would likely bring tourists to New Zealand who were keen for a break, he said, however he was unsure whether they would come to the region.
“Would those travellers come to the Bay of Plenty? Or would they prefer to come for a skiing holiday in Queenstown?”
Sciascia said it was unknown whether the money spent by Australians would exceed the money spent by Kiwis across the ditch, and any gain from foreign tourists could be offset by Kiwis holidaying overseas.
A bubble with the Cook Islands would be “extremely beneficial” to the Cook Islands economy at the cost to New Zealand destinations where Kiwis were currently spending their money, he said.
Bay of Plenty District Health Board Covid-19 incident controller Trevor Richardson said they would follow any guidance provided by the Ministry of Health and other relevant government agencies.