A busy day at Waimarino Adventure Park in 2013. Photo / File
A busy day at Waimarino Adventure Park in 2013. Photo / File
Bay of Plenty tourism operators are offering exclusive discounts to Kiwis in an attempt to save jobs during coronavirus border restrictions.
As of Monday international visitors, excluding the Pacific Islands, must self-isolate for 14 days on arrival into New Zealand. Kiwis have been urged to cancel non-essential overseas travel.
In Tauranga, hit especially hard by the curtailed cruise ship season, several tourism attractions have banded together to offer a 10 per cent Kiwis-only discount on their attractions.
They hope domestic travellers will help lessen the economic impact of the loss of international tourists.
Waimarino Adventure Park and Kayak Tours owner Blair Anderson said 14 days was a lot of people's entire time off.
"By getting to Tauranga and putting money into local tourism businesses you are saving jobs and bolstering our economy, but you'll also have a bloody good holiday," Anderson said.
"Seeing the light of glow-worms bouncing off the water on a beautiful lake is just as rewarding as what you'd planned overseas."
He said the tourism community was constantly increasing its standard of delivery to minimise the risk of spreading the virus.
Tauranga tourism operator Jay Thomas of 7 Deadly Sins said there were plenty of bucket list attractions in New Zealand.
"In Tauranga alone you can start the day driving a Ferrari and Lamborghini around some stunning roads, then two hours later you can be flying in a helicopter, watching dolphins, or riding the waves at Mount Maunganui," he said.
Waimarino Kayak Tours and Adventure Park, 7 Deadly Sins, Skydive Tauranga, Bay Explorer, River Bug NZ, Adrenalin Forest Tauranga, Aerius Helicopters and Day Trippers are giving Kiwis a 10 per cent discount on their tours.
They hoped more operators would follow.
The discount is available through the relevant websites. It is to be booked before March 31 using the code TRAVELLOCAL.
According to Tourism New Zealand, more than 229,000 people are directly employed in the industry nationwide.
KEY POINTS: • Effective from 1am Monday, all travellers, except for those coming from the Pacific Islands, will have to self-isolate for 14 days on their arrival to New Zealand • The PM says the rules are the toughest in the world • She told New Zealanders not to travel overseas if they don't have to and issued stark advice: No hugs, hongi or handshakes • All cruise ships have been banned to NZ until June 30
