CAVING IN THE AFTERMATH OF COVID
Pre-Covid-19, a normal day in one Waitomo cave often saw ‘‘five millionaires hanging on a rope’’. Now business is dead,
Ashadow hangs over this King Country town. Once busy car parks are now empty and restaurant seats remain cold. Waitomo is not the only tourism town in strife because of the Covid-19 pandemic but with more than 80 per cent of its market being international tourists, the Kiwis backing their backyard have not made much difference for those who call the place home.
‘‘When you think about the fact that we used to see over 500,000 tourists going through Waitomo Village and the various factions prior to lockdown, it is a huge change,’’ said mayor John Robertson, reflecting on life before and during Covid-19.
‘‘We used to see car parks full, the caving operators full, the buses there.
‘‘Now it is relatively empty to what it was.’’
On average, Waitomo visitors used to pump about $87 million into the district yearly.
The latest Hamilton and Waikato Tourism statistics show that in 2020 the district reached $60m – a 28.3 per cent fall – and about $18m of that came from international visitors who spent up large before New Zealand closed its borders.
The Waikato region in total was sitting at $1.4 billion, a 9 per cent drop from last year.
Hamilton and Waikato Tourism chief executive Jason Dawson said Waitomo and Matamata-Piako were suffering the most in the region.
‘‘Although most of the Waikato region is a domestic destination, communities like Raglan, Matamata and Waitomo previously attracted a significant number of international visitors,’’ Dawson said.
‘‘Visiting glow-worm caves and Hobbiton Movie Set are high on an international traveller’s wish-list.’’
Robertson said it would be ‘‘fantastic’’ if the district were to get 20 per cent of their usual spend but was not sure they would if borders remained closed.
‘‘The smaller operators have spent years and decades developing their taste, developing their business up to what it got to prior to lockdown, and then to have something that is a risk, that you would not have factored into a business plan is tough.
‘‘As a mayor it was really hard to see but obviously it was much harder for the businesses involved and the people who lost their jobs.’’
Nick Andreef was one of those operators. Pre-Covid-19, a normal day in the caves often saw ‘‘five millionaires hanging on a rope’’.
Now business is dead and ‘‘there are not a lot of millionaires in New Zealand’’ to fill the void, the Waitomo Adventures owner said.
‘‘Eighty per cent of our customers, and the whole reason this building was built two weeks before lockdown, was based on export earnings through international tourists.
‘‘Covid-19 was a very swift and severe shutting off of our market with effectively no warning.’’
He said his company did about $100,000 worth of refunds the first week of lockdown.
In the weeks following he also had to make the ‘‘tough decision’’ of making about 80 per cent of his staff redundant. ‘‘That was really sad because some of those people had been with us for 10 to 20 years.
‘‘It will never be the same again.’’ When asked why he thinks Waitomo has struggled comparatively more than other towns, Andreef said Waitomo had always been hard to sell to Kiwis. He described domestic tourism as a ‘‘lumpy’’ market for Waitomo. ‘‘Aucklanders don’t really think about Waitomo generally.
‘‘I think most of them have done the Waitomo Glow worm cave 40-50 years ago and as far as they are concerned they have done it. They don’t realise that it has changed a lot since then.
‘‘And some of them think there is only one cave.’’
With more than 1000 caves and only 20 commercial operators, each experience offers something different.
‘‘The famous and traditional glowworm cave would fit inside these caves several times over.
‘‘So these different activities have sprung up and are here but we have done a poor job really about getting that message out there.’’
In November, that all changed when local operators got together to start a campaign, the first marketing stint without the ‘‘big guys’’.
‘‘Maybe things are changing, and we have realised the mistake of letting one entity be so dominant, so there is a community upswell and desire to change that perception.’’
A tough 2020 also saw Waitomo’s Roselands Restaurant close, which was a popular dining spot for classic Kiwi meals.
While some businesses feared they could be the next Roselands, Tomo Bar and Eatery owner Glenn Heka said the community was trying to stay positive – even when community transmissions continue to filter through the borders.
With the help of the wage subsidy and a burst of domestic tourists during the summer holidays, he said, his business was hanging on.
‘‘Business has just died,’’ Heka said. ‘‘We would get all sorts of people walk through our doors, from tourists coming in from a long hike and wanting a good feed to our regular knitting group and tradies coming in after work. It was the hub of the community.’’
The school holidays and summer holidays had made a big difference but, he said, domestic tourists could only ‘‘go to the caves so many times’’.
He said bookings for accommodation were also low, because Kiwis tended not to preplan their holidays and would often book two days out.
‘‘We were used to getting buses that would have 50-plus people on board every day, and they would also stay behind us at the backpackers and of course take Waitomo cave tours.
‘‘We have just got to deal with what we have got and hope for the best.’’
Of all the companies Stuff visited, Daniel Ormsby’s was the only one doing better.
The artist has seen a rise in the number of people interested in his paintings and carvings since Covid-19.
‘‘We have actually been busier than normal. The arts have really taken off.
‘‘We were preparing to batten down the hatches, with no unnecessary spending, but it just got busy,’’ Ormsby said.
Ormsby is the founder of the Karamaha collective, an art group that features works from artists in the Waitomo area. The collective has an art gallery called The Red Shed in Waitomo which also serves as a whakairo (traditional Ma¯ ori carving) and a ta moko (traditional Ma¯ ori tattooing) studio.
‘‘We have never tried to capitalise on the tourist market. It was an option but because we deal with our local Ma¯ ori market we have been sweet.
‘‘We put this down to New Zealanders being at home, and us looking inwards of ourselves, and that there is more of an importance in integrating Ma¯ ori into all aspects of living.’’ He said Waitomo going quiet had also enabled the artists to hone their skills.
‘‘We have had fewer visitors, so we don’t have to stop and start – we are in full workshop mode.
‘‘People used to be visiting us all day and we would switch into visiting mode … it was quite difficult.
‘‘Now we forget that we even have a gallery. When people come in to see artwork, we now get a bit of a fright.’’
Aside from selling art, Karamaha gallery has also become a safe space for the community.
‘‘We have become a bit of a counselling service, support service, positivity service.
‘‘I think Covid-19 made people reassess their lives and Covid-19 has affected people in a lot of ways, so we had a lot of people out here, one-onone, providing comfort and healing.
‘‘Getting them involved in some artwork and they have actually left feeling better.’’