Tourism operators hunker down
‘‘... if there is no money coming in, there is a point where you have to start searching for the hard answers as to how you change the business model.’’ Darryl Wilson
Abel Tasman National Park tourism operators says it’s fortunate the Covid-19 crisis struck at the end of summer, and are cautiously looking ahead to next year.
Wilsons Abel Tasman chief executive Darryl Wilson said it was the first time the company had closed for winter.
He didn’t think a move to allow domestic travel under alert level 2 would change things for tourism in the region due to ‘‘intense seasonality’’, with less people visiting anyway and some businesses already choosing to close over winter.
Wilson had drawn a line in the sand – looking to start operations again from September 1 – but that could change depending on what happened in the next few months.
The Abel Tasman Coast Track is the most frequented of the country’s Great Walks, with latest figures showing a neareven split between domestic and international visitors.
Wilsons usually operated a reduced schedule between April and October to retain some staff and promote the park to locals, neither of which were ‘‘profit generating’’.
While the domestic market was valuable, Wilson said the deals offered to locals outside the high season were subsidised by international travellers.
‘‘There is no certain truth with any business and if there is no money coming in, there is a point where you have to start searching for the hard answers as to how you change the business model, how many people do you need to operate it and what does the future look like.
‘‘That is what we are all doing as an industry now.’’
Wilson remained positive that things would turn around for the tourism sector.
‘‘I’m a great believer in the concept of 101 marketing, if you have got a good product, good distribution and an appropriate price point you are going to find market or sales and New Zealand is definitely a great product.
‘‘I think there will be a very positive future, we are wellpositioned and if we can keep a lid on this virus, I think the end of the summer season will be an amazing time in the New Zealand travel industry.’’
Abel Tasman Eco Tours codirector Helen Forsey said she didn’t think there would be a huge appetite for tourism in the domestic market in the coming months.
‘‘I think financially for people it won’t really be on the cards, I think they will be laying low.’’
If people were moving around the country more, she expected they would be looking for lowbudget experiences.
Forsey and husband Stew Robertson have run Abel Tasman Eco Tours for seven years. She said the company had experienced good growth in that time and the coronavirus pandemic had brought about a slump which was an opportunity to consider what was next.
Both had a background in science and were looking to move away from the tourism industry into environmental monitoring, with the potential to still do charters.
‘‘If we were to try and market for locals we wouldn’t make any money because we aren’t large enough to churn through the numbers to cover the running costs.’’
Forsey said it was fortunate that the lockdown came at the
Wilsons Abel Tasman chief executive
end of the summer season.
‘‘We are seasonal so therefore we generally all quieten down over winter to some extent, so there is a bit of leeway in making decisions.’’
Department of Conservation figures show in the year ending June 2019, 18,902 Kiwis and 17,967 international visitors made hut and campsite bookings along the coastal track.
It was the first time local visitors outnumbered international tourists, with the reduction in numbers possibly in part due to the fact hut and campsite fees for overseas visitors doubled in October 2018.
Before the price hike, figures from the year ending June 2018 showed almost double the number of international visitors than Kiwis.
New Zealanders made 16,054 bookings while those from overseas made 27,350 bookings.