Chinese travel ban hits tourism in Mackenzie
Tourism operators are appealing to Kiwis to book a few days away as expected guests cancel bookings in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak.
Godley Hotel, Tekapo, general manager Mika Bertolli said she had ‘‘several’’ Chinese tour groups cancel in the wake of the virus scare.
She said the cancellations were ‘‘definitely affecting business’’ and she now had several rooms available from Tuesday which she hoped domestic visitors may jump on for a long weekend given Waitangi Day falls on Thursday.
‘‘We have spaces available and we want to invite you to stay,’’ she said.
The Chinese Government on Saturday imposed a ban on tour groups travelling overseas and the booking of flights and hotels abroad to try to stem the spread of the virus, forcing thousands of Chinese tourists to cancel their plans to travel to New Zealand.
Visitors from China spent $212 million in South Canterbury in the year to October 2019.
Mackenzie District mayor Graham Smith said the timing of the outbreak was unfortunate as it was peak tourist season for the district.
‘‘We anticipate it will have quite an impact on local businesses.
‘‘As far as Mackenzie is concerned, 60 per cent of the tourists are international and Chinese make up a big part of that,’’ Smith said.
Chinese New Year (January 25) is one of the busiest tourism periods with thousands of extra visitors coming into the district, which created an accommodation shortage, he said.
‘‘It is a worrying time for some operators but hopefully it will get back to normal soon.’’
However, he hoped there would be a silver lining to the cancellations, with other visitors able to book beds.
‘‘Hopefully other visitors can fill the cancellations that China has created.
‘‘I heard from a couple of businesses that there have been cancellations, but at the same time Mackenzie has an accommodation shortage at peak times which is now,’’ Smith said.
YHA New Zealand chief executive Mark Wells said it was a nervous time for the tourism industry.
‘‘We have clear policies in place when it comes to health and safety, and we have simply reminded staff of our procedures,’’ Wells said.
Aoraki Tourism visitor promotions specialist Kate O’Connell said they are receiving regular updates from the Tourism Industry Association and their Canterbury regional partners as the situation developed.
‘‘The latest information we’ve received tends to show that although Chinese visitors have been forced to cancel their trips here, they are rescheduling rather than cancelling altogether.
‘‘The other thing to note is that Chinese travellers already in the country seem to be extending their stays rather than flying straight home. Hopefully this will go some way to offsetting the impact this will have on our visitor economy.’’
South Canterbury Chamber of Commerce chief executive Wendy Smith advised businesses to ensure they had clear cancellation policies in place.
‘‘They also need to look to alternate markets and have hopefully ensured a good cross-section of nationalities – this is a standard risk mitigation policy for tourism businesses.
‘‘Only time will reveal the full impact of the Chinese government’s decision to suspend all overseas tour group travel to prevent the spread of the diseases over the Chinese New Year.’’
However, not all tourism dependent businesses in South Canterbury were feeling the pinch.
Geraldine Farm Tours owner Fiona McQuade said they did not notice any difference from Chinese government’s decision to halt all overseas tour group travel to prevent spread of the disease.
‘‘We don’t have a lot of tourists or groups from China that come to us,’’ McQuade said.
‘‘Our impact was more from the Australian bush fires.’’
She said one group of American tourists had cancelled their tour because of the fires.
Pleasant Point Museum and Railway president Bryan Blanchard said they also did not get many Chinese tourist bookings and had not noticed any impact.
Rangitata Rafts general manager Darren Hawes said they had also not been impacted by the cancellations.