On Monday, Ski Areas Association of NZ (SAANZ) wrote to the Government on behalf of New Zealand ski areas with an urgent appeal to bring highly specialised workers, such as ski patrol, lift technicians and snow groomers, into the country before the 2021 season.
Without those people, essential for ski areas’ safe operation, some ski areas will not be able to operate at all, others might only be able to operate at 50% for the season, and some might only be able to offer 50% capacity.
Queenstown economist Benje Patterson said last year’s domestic-only season in the Southern Lakes exceeded 600,000 skier days, injecting about $169million of visitor spending into the economy.
That was enough to support about 3025 seasonal jobs in the Queenstown Lakes alone.
If ski areas in Queenstown and Wanaka were only able to operate at 50% capacity this year, or for only half this winter, Mr Patterson said the economy could lose $84million and possibly 1512 jobs.
"The numbers are pretty sobering for me, particularly as the baseline season (2020) was centred on domestic visitation alone.
"I have not modelled a scenario of additional lost earnings for if the transtasman bubble miraculously opens up in time for the ski season."
Mr Boult said the ski season was one of the only positive things in front of the district at present.
"To have that [extinguished] simply because we couldn’t get the right people in to run the fields would be a crime."
The specialised roles were generally filled by a small number of workers who travelled between hemispheres for the ski season, but who were now unable to enter New Zealand due to Covid-19 border closures.
The New Zealand ski industry had collaborated on a sustainable workforce strategy, outlining short-term needs and a long-term plan, including the urgent need to approve the travel of the skilled workers.
That strategy had been communicated to the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE), but SAANZ was still waiting to hear on the status of the "critical" workers.
Cardrona Alpine Resort and Treble Cone general manager Bridget Legnavsky said they had been working with MBIE on the issue, but time was now "running out".
"We’re not talking huge numbers of international workers — getting 100 highly skilled staff across the border will enable Kiwi ski areas to operate," Ms Legnavsky said.
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Comments
Jim ...
Just in case you didn't get the memo, there is a global pandemic that actually kills people.
Today I watched Team NZ win the Americas Cup, but where else in the world could that have happened with crowds, no masks, and the freedom to join a crowd for a few drinks to celebrate, along with another couple to honor St Patrick.
We still have idiots walking out of isolation hotels and putting us all at risk, now you want to open up the borders so a few people can fill up their wallets again and risk an outbreak of covid here ... good thinking ... NOT !!
Get with the programme ... it's not only Queenstown that's hurting and I'm pretty sure the (few) people who are complaining still have plenty of money in their wallets and overseas bank accounts ... try to be a "team" player and remember that it's not only NZ that have border controls, Australia are pretty damn quick at closing their if we have more than 1 new case here.
So why haven't ski field operators been training and/or upskilling local workers over the last few months since it became apparent that Covid was here to stay for some time? After all, it's not as if it is a unforeseeable situation at this stage.