Hermitage options on table, says hotel owner

Some Aoraki/Mt Cook accommodation owned by the company that operates the Hermitage Hotel could stay open, even if the famous hotel closes.

Up to 170 staff members stand to lose their jobs under a proposal to mothball the 180-room hotel, along with other accommodation and activities owned by Aoraki/Mt Cook Alpine Village Ltd.

The company will decision later this week.

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aIts owner, former Queenstown mayor Sir John Davies, said some of the 32 motel, 20 chalet and 65 lodge rooms could remain open for Kiwi holidaymakers.

‘‘We’re listening to what the staff say, and we’re open to any suggestions at all.’’

Davies said the Hermitage often had months of 25 per cent occupancy over winter and business picked up over summer. ‘‘But I don’t see the summer this year picking up. The last thing we want to do is close the thing down, but if there aren’t any guests, then obviously that’s where we’ve got to go.’’

Staff were told of the potential redundancies on Friday and asked to have their feedback in by the end of today, with a final decision announced this Friday.

Company director Peter Carnahan confirmed staff were given a ‘‘heads-up’’ over possible job losses on March 20 after the borders closed, but before the lockdown was announced.

He said they had initially hoped to retain a skeleton staff of 60 and reopen on July 1, but as the full picture of travel restrictions under the various alert levels emerged, it became clear that was not tenable.

‘‘To open with zero [bookings] and hope that someone turns up doesn’t work. We don’t have sufficient bookings to justify being open until at least October.’’

According to the Ministry of Social Development’s database, Aoraki/Mt Cook Alpine Village received $1,237,209.60 from the Government’s wage subsidy.

Carnahan said this did not fully cover the wage bill so the company was topping it up, and had discounted staff rents by 25 per cent.

‘‘[Without the subsidy] we probably would have had to terminate them back in March.’’

Carnahan said they were assessing which parts of the operation might be able to open earlier if domestic business was a prospect.

The company is also negotiating with the Department of Conservation over the ‘‘quite substantial’’ annual ground rents and concession fees it pays to operate in the Aoraki Mt Cook National Park.

More than half the staff employed at the Hermitage and related businesses were migrant workers and Davies said he had concerns about the plight of those who might now struggle to fund a return trip home.