Tourism Holdings axes 140 jobs

HAMILTON: Camper van and tourism company Tourism Holdings Ltd (THL) is cutting 140 jobs as it fights to stay afloat.

Staff across the company’s Kiwi Experience and Waitomo Group, which includes glowworm caves and rafting tours, as well as group support staff, are affected.

THL chief executive Grant Webster said the cuts were necessary.

‘‘We’ve done all we think we can to try and mitigate the situation but you can’t just continue with losses and not make the right kind of decisions for the rest of the business,’’ Mr Webster said.

‘‘We’re better off surviving than keeping everyone employed and not surviving.’’

The Kiwi Experience and Waitomo businesses were operating at about 5% of normal capacity.

‘‘Kiwi Experience has had to pretty much go into hibernation due to it being 100% international, Waitomo is open again now that we’re at Level 2 but it’s at very low volumes . . . we’re down about 95% across those core businesses.’’

A promotion hiring out camper vans for as little as $29 a day had so far been a success, he said.

‘‘That’s not about making money . . . we’re losing money anyway, that’s why we went so cheap, it was to save jobs and get people out and about, as well as use stock just sitting there, but it has started off so well that we think we can potentially save even more jobs.

‘‘So we have deferred the [redundancy] consultation for our New Zealand rentals and vehicle sales teams . . . we’ll hold off and see what happens.’’

The firm, which also operates in Australia, the US and the UK, has had to undertake a raft of costcutting measures due to Covid19.

Mr Webster said THL would not take an extensive sum from the second round of the Government’s wage subsidy scheme,

It was not in a position to give any forward guidance on its earnings.

Consultation with staff affected by the restructuring began yesterday. —RNZ