Only three days in orange – ‘gutting’
It’s been a rollercoaster of emotions for Northland hospitality, which rode the highs of the orange traffic light setting for just three days before New Zealand moved back to red, due to an Omicron outbreak in the community.
The red setting restricts gather Dings once again to 100 people, placing restrictions on venues, particularly those that don’t use vaccine passes.
It has come at a tough time for the industry, which thrived off larger, consistent numbers during the summer.
Nick Keene owns two restaurants, in Tutukaka and Whangārei, with a combined seating capacity of 330, and said his summer revenue went out the window when the inevitable shift back to red was confirmed.
‘‘In a lot of ways the horse bolted from us,’’ Keene said.
‘‘There’s a few long weekends that we’d normally have 140, 150 in an ideal situation. But that [December 27 – January 15] period is when we get those consistently high numbers, where we lost those extra people.
‘‘It’s disappointing. My main concern is what it will do to confidence in people getting around. Even moving into orange we were still pre-programmed into working a lot with seated service, so we didn’t really get back into the swing of orange.’’
When Auckland’s border to Northland reopened on December 15, people flocked to Northland hospitality businesses, creating a decent Christmas and New Year period, according to Fat Camel Cafe owner, Nikhil Saini.
‘‘I’m not sure how it will go this time,’’ Saini said.
‘‘Normally, summer for cafes [runs] for a longer time, we had a few tourists last year staying longer, but this time was only two to three weeks, it was just a wave.’’
The flow-on effects of the red setting are huge, with events like Snapper Bonanza – which in the past has brought a flurry of tourists – now in question.
Kaitāia Business Association’s chairwoman, Andrea Panther said the sudden move back to red level was ‘‘heart-wrenching’’ news for employers now facing a battle to keep their loyal staff’s employment secure.
‘‘Being in a small town you get to know everybody, but you see lots of new faces in bars and restaurants and there’s the training issues as well, so you can tell many hospitality places have lost normal staff,’’ Panther said.
Many in Northland had opted to make hospitality their profession, a decision now failing to pay them back, according to North Chamber of Commerce chief executive Stephen Smith.
‘‘A lot of damage is already done, they haven’t been able to put away enough reserves to handle this, it’s critical to their financial cycle that they’re able to put those reserves away for the quieter times,’’ Smith said.
‘‘Their mental wellbeing must be under enormous stress.’’
Northland’s saving grace might be the warm weather, which Smith believes continues to encourage locals from the region and Auckland to spendmore time travelling and spending at local stores.
‘‘If we can continue to take advantage of the weather and have some form of subsidy or funding to keep things bubbling, we’ve got a shot of keeping the sector alive.’’