Uplifting day for skifields

Tourism minister pictures hotels filling up, bars and restaurants doing a roaring trade and ‘things almost back to normal’ as the visitors return. Debbie Jamieson reports.

‘‘Just being here and feeling the pure joy of people here and knowing their local community is going to benefit is fantastic.’’

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has declared New Zealand open for winter visitors – from atop a Queenstown skifield.

Ardern joined hundreds of locals at The Remarkables ski area for the resort’s opening day on Saturday under bluebird skies, and following the biggest early-season snowfall in decades.

It is the season that many Queenstown businesses hope will herald the return of Australian visitors and give a much-needed economic boost after the Covid-19 pandemic devastated the local economy.

Ardern said Australian visitors accounted for more than 70% of international tourists who visited New Zealand skifields.

She had even heard a few ‘‘giddays’’ from Australians while at The Remarkables, but visitors on Saturday were overwhelmingly local.

‘‘Just being here and feeling the pure joy of people here and knowing their local community is going to benefit is fantastic,’’ she said.

She acknowledged that a staff shortage meant there were constraints for many local hotels and hospitality providers who would be operating at less than 100% capacity during the school holidays.

More work was being done to promote the opportunities of working holiday visas overseas and to encourage young Australians to visit and work in New Zealand, Ardern said.

It was an issue faced by many countries as they ‘‘scaled up’’ following the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, she said.

‘‘We’re doing what we can to ensure that we maintain the level of wages that we want to keep seeing in industry, that we continue to train our domestic work force, but we’re also able to access workers offshore if that’s needed, too.’’

Tourism Minister Stuart Nash said it was going to be a fantastic ski season.

‘‘It’s easier for Australians to jump on a plane in Sydney and come here to ski than it is to go to some of their domestic

PRIME MINISTER JACINDA ARDERN

skifields. ‘‘I expect to see hotels filling up, bars and restaurants doing a roaring trade and things almost back to normal.’’

It would, however, take some time for Queenstown to become the ‘‘full international city’’ it once was, he said.

‘‘There’s a little bit of reticence to travel. But by and large we are open.

‘‘This is so cool to see, and I’m expecting a fantastic winter season.’’

STUFF Left: NZ Ski chief executive Paul Anderson and Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern are not taking selfies but looking at Coronet Peak and surrounding mountains from the top of The Remarkables ski area via a Peak Finder app. Main image: Ardern, Remarkables ski area manager Ross Lawrence, Anderson, Labour MP Rachel Brooking and a security officer ride the chairlift on the opening day of the ski season at The Remarkables.