Border failures threat to Covid-free appeal
Tourism leader says it’s ‘heartbreaking’ atrisk businesses have been let down by Government failures. By Katie Kenny.
AS Covid-19 case numbers rise and the Government works to rebuild public trust after its border bungle, some of the country’s hardest-hit businesses fear a return to higher alert levels.
The Health Ministry yesterday confirmed the country has two new cases and five in total, all international imports. News on Tuesday that two women released early from quarantine had tested positive for the coronavirus ended our run of more than three weeks with no new cases.
Director-General of Health Ashley Bloomfield apologised for the border blunder, which saw the sisters travel from Auckland to Wellington for the funeral of a parent. The women hadn’t been tested for Covid-19 before being allowed to leave, despite one of them showing symptoms.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern described the situation as an unacceptable failure of the system and suspended all compassionate leave exemptions.
However, there are fears the slip up has irreparably shaken confidence in our Covid-19-free status and leadership.
‘‘Can I swear?’’ Waiheke Island Tourism Forum chairwoman Christina Hyde said when asked what she made of the situation. ‘‘It’s heartbreaking. We’ve worked so hard and sacrificed so much, only for government systems and processes to let us down,’’ said Hyde, who owns the Waiheke Island Motel and Onetangi Beach Apartments.
‘‘New Zealand had a great chance to position itself in the world as Covid-free and the usefulness of that, in terms of international marketing, can be completely wiped out if we’re going backwards and letting people who may have the virus enter our markets uncontrolled.’’
Testing on days three and 12 of managed isolation has now been rolled out for all arrivals, not just those with symptoms, Bloomfield told reporters but according to the rules at the time, the sisters should have been tested before hitting the open road, which didn’t happen.
However, a move to alert level 2, with further restrictions on the domestic economy, was not needed, he has since said, because there was still no evidence of community transmission.
Waiheke ‘‘suffered terribly’’ during lockdown, Hyde said. ‘‘We have 20 per cent of our population directly employed by tourism on the island. Every business is either directly or indirectly impacted by tourism.’’
Along with others, she was working hard to boost domestic tourism. This weekend’s ‘‘On the House’’ promotion, where more than 80 property owners turn their rental income from the weekend into ‘‘Waiheke dollars’’ for visitors to spend at local, participating businesses, was expected to inject $150,000 to $200,000 into the local economy.
More than 340 people were staying on the island because of the promotion, she said.
Veronika Vermeulen, owner of luxury travel agency Aroha New Zealand Tours, said growing interest had dipped after the gaps in border control were exposed.
‘‘Everyone has been affected by the pandemic. But I come from a group of companies that’s probably been the most affected. We rely on foreigners, because Kiwis are unlikely to book domestic travel through an agent.
‘‘We’re talking hundreds of people who haven’t got one cent of income [in recent months].’’
Her business, like others, was trying to adapt. ‘‘We’re not just sitting here waiting for handouts. But we want a fighting chance.’’
Unsafe borders compromised that, she said.
‘‘I know some companies who’ve lost investors because of it, because investors have lost confidence in the Government.’’
The Government had, until now, done a good job of controlling the virus, she said. ‘‘We didn’t expect the Government to be perfect, but this failure is huge.
‘‘It’s not just one mistake, letting two people go. It was the whole system that was wrong.’’
Six weeks before New
Zealand closed its borders to non-residents on March 19, hotels were creating safety plans.
Chamanthie Sinhalage- Fonseka, director of corporate affairs at Wellington Urban Consulting, was working with clients, getting them ready for the kind of Covid-19 impact they were already observing overseas.
Now, after the imported cases, she’s helping clients prepare for a ‘‘second wave’’, she said.
‘‘There is quite a bit of anger and frustration in discovering
that the processes businesses thought existed in order to keep the country safe, and therefore to make domestic tourism viable, were taken so lightly in the face of the casualties to the sector.’’
While regional tourism organisations were pushing ‘‘happy, local messaging’’, no amount of marketing would boost the domestic travel and hotel sector if people felt they couldn’t trust the Government.
‘‘The link between business confidence and trust in state cannot be overstated enough.’’
To go from level 1 back to levels 2, 3 or 4 – lockdown – would be ‘‘devastatingly costly’’, to both resources and cash flow, she said.
Housing Minister Megan Woods is now handling housing and isolation procedures at the
‘The fact . . . that New Zealand’s borders had failed so quickly and easily was a major concern.’ BRAD OLSEN, INFOMETRICS SENIOR ECONOMIST
‘‘This was a blow because we had worked out a nice way to hand the role over from Ian as Old Bilbo,’’ Jackson wrote.
He describes the evening turning into a ‘‘think tank’’, with Jackson, Fran Walsh, Holm and his wife Sophie trying to work out how he could play the character one last time.
With support Holm was able to reprise the role, in 2012’s An Unexpected Journey and
2014’s The Battle of the Five Armies, in what would be his final performance.
‘‘I hope that audiences just see Ian Holm reprising Bilbo.
But what I experienced on set was a wonderful actor delivering his last performance. It was incredibly brave of him to do that, and very emotional for those who witnessed it.’’