Tourism bosses scrub dishes as Covid absences bite
Tourism bosses are washing dishes, making beds and renting skis to customers as they battle critical staff shortages amid a surge in Australian visitors.
Mark Rose, the chief executive of The Rees Hotel in Queenstown, is doing shifts in the kitchen most days of the week and, like most of his executive staff, has been helping to strip beds and do housekeeping duties.
‘‘I started out washing dishes when I was 13, and I am back washing dishes in my 60s,’’ he said.
NZ Ski chief executive Paul Anderson spent yesterday morning working in the rentals department at Mt Hutt skifield because six staff members were suffering from Covid-19 or isolating.
There were 20-minute delays in guest services at the mountain because of staff shortages and restricted options for food and drink. Some people were waiting up to an hour, according to reports on social media, but Anderson was unaware of that, saying they might have arrived at peak time and got caught behind someone taking a long time.
Anderson said the company had employed more staff than usual (1350 compared with 1250 in previous years) to allow for anticipated sickness.
Ski businesses often suffered a ‘‘double whammy’’ when staff with Covid-19 were living with other workers who were then required to isolate.
This week, the first of the New South Wales school holidays, was busy, and next week looked to be even more so as New Zealand’s school holidays start. Such a time was always busy, Anderson said, but this year was more challenging.
‘‘It’s the amount of juggling we have to do because we don’t know where our shortages will be on any one day.’’
In Queenstown there were long queues for buses to Coronet Peak and the Remarkables yesterday morning.
NZ Ski has 29 buses and shuttles operating in Queenstown, and all were running yesterday, taking more than 2000
people to the mountains, Anderson said. Five buses were leased because of expectations that more people would want to travel by bus thanks to rental car shortages. Anderson said this was ‘‘the new normal’’, adding that it was a ‘‘good thing for the planet’’.
The Ruapehu ski fields of Whakapapa and Tu¯ roa are ‘‘a decent storm away’’ from fully opening ski slopes, chief executive Jono Dean said. ‘‘We haven’t taken on the bulk of our staff yet.’’
But in Queenstown, Rose said he could not get enough workers. Last week 15% of housekeepers were off with Covid, as were three out of seven chefs.
‘‘I’m probably better off than most, but we’re just having real trouble getting staff even at the high rates we pay.’’
He had only opened 80% of the hotel and expected to operate at between 70% and 80% over the next three months.
Rooms were serviced daily, but guests were offered the opportunity to forgo that in exchange for the hotel planting a native tree, he said.
The staff shortage is hitting across the country. Queenstown Lakes mayor Jim Boult said the main cause was the lack of migrant workers because of border closures.
National MP Erica Stanford, the party’s immigration spokesperson, said less than than 5% of the working holidaymakers who would have been here in pre-Covid times were in the country at present. ‘‘We barely have any international students, and the essential skills category doesn’t open to applications until tomorrow.’’
In Wa¯ naka, Trout restaurant manager Toni Fox was operating with two chefs instead of the usual four.
‘‘We are advertising everywhere, but nobody is coming in off the streets. We used to get backpackers coming in handing in their CVs and now nothing . . . We are turning away customers every day,’’ Fox said.
Hospitality New Zealand has found the average hourly rate in the industry has risen by 8.9% since last year, while the average salary has risen by 10.5%.
The top wages were being paid in the Queenstown and Southern Lakes area, where the average hourly rate was $26.55, or 8.7% above the national average.
Queenstown Chamber of Commerce chief executive Ruth Stokes said she was regularly hearing about businesses having half of their staff members off work because they were unwell.
‘‘We appreciate that we’re not alone in this. It’s a factor more broadly in New Zealand and internationally. I’m not sure there’s an answer any time soon.’’