Sector’s long wait about to end
The prospect of New Zealand reopening to more overseas tourists next week is being met with guarded optimism by backpacker accommodation providers.
Some question if the industry, which relied on international tourists before Covid-19, will return to pre-pandemic levels.
From Monday, visitors vaccinated for Covid-19 from around 60 visa waiver countries will be allowed back into New Zealand, along with visitors from other countries who already hold a valid visitor visa.
The owner of The Palace Backpackers in Nelson, Dave Enting, did not foresee a big rise in tourist numbers until the beginning of summer as the city was ‘‘not generally a winter destination’’.
He had kept the business afloat since the borders shut in 2020 by turning more than half of the backpackers’ rooms over to longterm housing – mostly for Kiwis. The unplanned shift had seen him ‘‘working 70 hours a week’’ and caused a ‘‘very hard’’ run-up to retirement, Enting said.
‘‘Since lockdown the job has definitely got harder, because of providing basically emergency accommodation for people who can’t find anywhere else to live. And a lot of them have created problems for me in terms of behaviour: drugs, alcohol and domestic disputes.’’
Enting was about to put his property on the market after 36 years in business.
The owner of Bridge Backpackers and Prince Albert Backpackers & Bar, Mike Walker, said the operation’s bar and restaurant had been ‘‘well patronised’’ compared to the accommodation, which had ‘‘not been doing so well.’’
Those in the sector could see light at the end of the tunnel now, he said. ‘‘[But] I don’t think it’s going to go back to what it was. There’s been talk already of New Zealand needing to limit a little bit the number of people flooding through the doors, and just take a bit of pressure off the environment.’’
That in turn could be offset by moves towards getting non self-contained vehicles off the road, which could see more travellers using backpacker accommodation, he said.
Backpacker Lucy Gazzard said travelling alone when Covid-19 hit was a ‘‘scary’’ experience that had put her off travelling for the time being. The 24-year-old from England came to New Zealand on a working holiday visa in October 2019.
‘‘I was going to get a job in Queenstown for the ski season but then Covid hit. So I didn’t have much money and I didn’t have any connections in New Zealand.’’
With no hostels accepting her job applications, her family in England managed to get her work on a farm in Otago – where she stayed until she got a job in Nelson, and she had worked at backpackers here since.
‘‘I wouldn’t want to go to Australia and have that same experience whilst Covid’s still very rife,’’ she said.
Gazzard had had her visa extended a couple of times.
‘‘Any backpacker that was out in the world when Covid hit, they will definitely take a bit longer to travel because everyone’s quite stable now. Any backpacker that’s in New Zealand has a job.’’
Georgina Pattullo, who owns Tasman Bay Backpackers, said a group of around 40 overseas visitors from various countries were regular guests at the backpackers near Nelson CBD. ‘‘Most of them now stay on a weekly rate, they all do seasonal work, or work in cafes in town.’’
While Covid had seen a drop in the business’ revenue, and been ‘‘tough at times’’, overall, it had been a ‘‘really rich experience’’, Pattullo said.
The guests were a ‘‘special group of people’’, who felt fortunate to be in New Zealand, with most of their countries in far ‘‘greater turmoil’’, at least for that first 18 months of the pandemic, she said.
The backpackers offered the guests free soup and bread twice a week, with a movie night and free yoga classes. ‘‘We’ve all learnt to just hang in there together.’’