Also, as the Covid-19 crisis enters its second month, the resort’s workers are hoping they will still have a job after June 30, when the Government’s wage subsidy ends.
That is when Queenstown Lakes Mayor Jim Boult predicts the district’s unemployment rate could begin soaring towards 30%.
Some hospitality businesses are using the move to Alert Level 3 to test the market.
Vudu Cafe and Bespoke Kitchen co-owner Michelle Freeman said the latter, a national award-winning cafe and eatery in Isle St, would open on Tuesday.
It would offer takeaway coffee and a limited range of food, with orders and payment by phone or an app now in development.
It was not viable to reopen both cafes at this stage, she said.
‘‘I don’t know how many customers we’ll have. There’s not really anyone in town.’’
The challenge for hospitality operators was to survive until Christmas in the hope domestic tourism could be under way.
‘‘I’ve been in business for 23 years here, and we’ve had to deal with lots of ups and downs, but this is like having the rug pulled out from under you.’’
Many of her 60 employees had left voluntarily before the lockdown, and she was keeping on the rest with the help of the Government’s wage subsidy.
She expected more would relocate to other parts of the country, and some visa holders would go home.
‘‘But once [the subsidy] stops, we won’t be able to keep all our staff on.’’
A Queenstown resident of 35 years, whom the Otago Daily Times has agreed not to name, said he and his wife were struggling to make ends meet after his hotel employer reduced his pay by 40%.
The possibility the end of the wage subsidy could spell the loss of his job, as a maintenance worker and groundsman, was ‘‘always in the back of my mind’’.
His wife was rehabilitating from recent surgery and unable to work, so his pay was barely covering their $600 weekly rent.
‘‘There’ve been four downturns since I’ve been here ... but this one by far is the worst.’’
Happiness House manager Robyn Francis said the social services provider was already helping Kiwis who had lost their jobs, and she predicted many more would follow when the wage subsidy ended.
For those who owned homes, she predicted a ‘‘flood’’ of house sales, making it difficult for people to sell up and relocate to other parts of the country.
They could no longer earn the income from Airbnb or boarders many had relied on to pay their mortgages.
For renters, some landlords had reduced rents by 20% to 50%, but many could not afford to do so because they had hefty mortgages of their own, Ms Francis said.
