Marlborough i-sites ‘100%’ open

The Blenheim and Picton i-sites are ‘‘100%’’ staying open as other visitor information centres around the country have extended closures or go into ‘‘hibernation’’ after Covid turned off the tap on tourists.

The region’s i-sites are run by Destination Marlborough and general manager Jacqui Lloyd said not only would they stay open, but she had plans to increase staff at both, ahead of what was expected to be a prosperous summer for local tourism operators.

It comes as the Kaiko¯ ura i-site goes into ‘‘hibernation’’ later this month, and the Nelson i-site takes a two-year ‘‘pause’’ to review the provision of tourist information in the region.

‘‘We want the region to know, the tourism industry to know, and locals to know that our i-sites are staying, and we’re 100% committed to them. We certainly want to make sure people know that the i-sites are here to stay,’’ Lloyd said.

‘‘We’ve been committed over the last 21⁄2 years, during the border closures and with Covid, to ensure that we keep the centres viable and operational seven days a week.’’

Lloyd said i-sites offered a lot more than directions and trinkets for tourists.

‘‘We find that they are incredibly useful for, not only helping visitors find the information they need when they are in the region, but also for booking product for our operators which is really important, and also for emergency management if there are any issues.

‘‘People know they can go to a visitor centre, be it if they’re local or international.

‘‘It’s the welcoming place for your region and that’s where we see the importance of i-sites for Marlborough, as when visitors walk in, they are getting information from locals who are sharing our region and being the welcoming face of the region and that’s really important.

Lloyd said the region could expect increased visitor numbers in the coming months as about 40 cruise ships were set to dock in Picton this summer, with the maritime borders to reopen on July 31.

‘‘In the next couple of days we’re actually going to be scaling up . . . the maritime borders will have been opened, so cruise ships can come back in, all shipping actually can come back into New Zealand, including people in super yachts and all those types of things.’’

Lloyd said while the expected influx of overseas tourists was promising for the region and tourism operators, she warned the numbers were not yet likely to be anywhere near pre-covid levels.

‘‘It is positive, I think, for our operators who have had a really tough couple of years, to know that there is an opportunity in summer to have more visitation and sales, and taking people out to experience their products and their parts of the Marlborough region is really great.

‘‘They just need to get through the next couple of months of when it’s quieter over winter, but there’s a lot of positivity in knowing that we’re going to have some sort of summer season,’’ Lloyd said.

‘‘We believe around 40 cruise ships will be coming in between November and April. Probably around 28 of that 40 will be 2000 passengers and under, and actually the majority of that will be 400-600 passengers, so the smaller boutique ships.

‘‘Then we will have some of the larger Ovation of the Seas and the like that we’ve had over many years as well.

‘‘We’re just waiting for final confirmation, but at this stage it looks likely that we’ll still have a strong cruise ship season.’’