Company’s river concessions remain
NGAI Tahu Tourism will not share use of its exclusive section of Shotover River in Queenstown, the company has confirmed.
Last week, Ngai Tahu Tourism announced it would put Shotover Jet and Dart River Adventures into ‘‘hibernation’’ until demand picked up, prompting questions about whether others could use those parts of the rivers.
The Queenstown Lakes District Council said the concession remained in place and unchanged, and a spokesman added any private operators who wanted to use it would need to seek the company’s permission.
‘‘There may be more capacity for recreational use if the commercial operation is less.’’
However, when contacted by the Otago Daily Times, Ngai Tahu Tourism was not keen to talk.
Media spokeswoman Jo Gilbert said: ‘‘I have a very short and firm answer for you today . . . no.’’
The closures were part of a wider restructure that resulted in the loss of 309 jobs across the company’s portfolio.
In a joint statement last week, chief executive Mike Pohio and kaiwhakahaere Lisa Tumahai confirmed the popular Shotover Jet would go along with Agrodrome, Dark Sky Project, Franz Josef Glacier Guides, Frank Josef Hot Pool, Guided Walks New Zealand, Hukafalls Jet, Rainbow Springs and Vantage Helicopters.
The ‘‘Big Red’’ jet boat operation is one of the bigticket tourism operators in the resort.
However, Ngai Tahu Tourism said a domestic market could not sustain the previous operations.
The company said it had retained ‘‘key capabilities’’ in order to restart Shotover Jet when demand picked up.
Queenstown Lakes Mayor Jim Boult said he expected Shotover
Jet to restart when demand returned and said it was ‘‘doing nothing different’’ to many other companies which were ‘‘mothballing their businesses while there is noone around’’.
‘‘There is an expectation they will use it and I am quite sure they will recommence their operation as soon as we get some domestic business back into town.’’
Yesterday’s announcement by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern could speed up that return as domestic tourism has been given the green light.
Yesterday Mr Boult confirmed Air New Zealand was planning to resume services into Queenstown from Christchurch and Auckland later this week.
He hoped that would give local tourism a kickstart.