Uncertainty in accommodation sector
Timaru accommodation operators have lost up to 90 per cent of business and feel uncertain about the future.
Hospitality Association South Canterbury accommodation sector chairman, and Avenue Motor Lodge owner, Mark Offen, said revenue was down following lockdown, in what he described as ‘‘challenging times’’.
The industry has been impacted massively by Covid19 travel bans and event cancellations and restrictions.
‘‘Who know what the future holds?’’ Offen said.
Despite an estimated 70 per cent drop in occupancy during the early days of lockdown, Offen said he had managed to retain all five staff.
‘‘I have 10 rooms booked out tonight [Monday] and 12 rooms tomorrow [Tuesday].
‘‘It’s still quiet in the sense that bookings are slowly returning but I would imagine for most people it’s significantly less than this time last year.’’
Offen said it was important for those in the accommodation sector to stay positive.
‘‘Have people you can confide in, ensure you get professional advice and stay safe,’’ he said.
Timaru Top Ten Holiday Park owner and operator Gordon Collister said contractors were keeping the business ‘‘reasonably busy’’ during the week, but there was still uncertainty.
‘‘We are uncertain as we have concerns that this is just catch up and once they have caught up with work the bookings will fade away.’’
The cancellation of events had affected weekend bookings, he said.
‘‘Since we moved to level 3 we are running about 30 per cent behind in revenue.
‘‘We lost two staff by natural attrition, we have 15 staff who we have retained.
‘‘Our biggest concern at the moment is the winter and the cancellation of sporting events.’’
At Homestead Lodge Motel, owner/operator Shaun McGrath said the business had lost about two-thirds of trade during lockdown.
‘‘It’s been a little bit hard to deal with, you have to have two-thirds of your business going to cover costs.
‘‘Costs go up for us but we can’t put prices up to make up for the loss. All we can do to get people in is drop our price and that doesn’t pay the bills.’’
McGrath said the positive aspect for the business was not being reliant on tourism.
‘‘We haven’t been hit by the fact planes are not coming in from overseas.
‘‘However, the loss of events has been huge. Timaru is normally quite big for tournaments and events because of the good facilities in the town.’’
The business had retained two fulltime and two part-time staff, he said.
‘‘We lost about 90 per cent of business during the early stages of lockdown, we stayed open because of essential services. It wasn’t easy, we survived with an overdraft.
‘‘I’m positive going forward, but people need to be get moving around and the Government needs to give them an incentive in the form of money.
‘‘If every family got some money and was told to use that money to get on the move then I think that would work.’’
Aspen on King motel manager Karen Wright said the business had been ‘‘fairly lucky because we are not in a tourist town and because we have a largely corporate base’’.
‘‘Things are returning to normal, we weathered the lockdown.
‘‘We had a few essential services workers and a corporate customer who was part of the electricity infrastructure.
‘‘We are feeling positive going forward. We are luckier than others who rely on international tourism.’’
‘‘Our biggest concern at the moment is the winter and the cancellation of sporting events.’’ Gordon Collister
Timaru Top 10 Holiday Park