Blair Anderson, director of Waimarino Adventure Park estimates a $150,000 loss for this month due to the virus. Photo /File
One Tauranga tourism company has quoted a loss of about $150,000 in one month due to the fallout of coronavirus.
The Bay's hospitality sector has been hit by 10 times more cancellations than normal and the retail industry is experiencing a slump in spending.
But business leaders say while it was going to be tough for some companies, it was "not the end of the world" and the Government's economic response package was what was needed.
The Government's $12.1 billion support package to cushion the impact of coronavirus is only a fraction of what was needed to help get them through the pandemic, Rotorua tourism and business leaders say.
Finance Minister Grant Robertson announced yesterday full-time workers eligible for the economic response package will receive $585 per week from the Government, paid in a lump sum package of just over $7000 covering a 12-week period.
The big-ticket items of the package include $5.1 billion for the wage subsidy package, $2.8b for benefit increases and the bolstered Winter Energy Payment and a further $2.8b for tax changes to free up cash flow. That's a total of $8.7 billion for businesses and jobs.
Hit especially hard by the curtailed cruise ship season is Waimarino Adventure Park and Kayak Tours and owner Blair Anderson said the impact had been felt.
"As of Tuesday, a conservative figure would be closer to $150,000 [loss] for this month.
"Presently we have had 10 ships cancel and leave early resulting in a lost turnover of about $50,000."
He said the loss affected future marketing investment and staff retention over the coming winter.
And, since Monday an equivalent of $15,000 of cancellations and postponements have been received for the evening glow-worm kayak tours.
"We have been informing staff we have to operate tight financially and will have to address staffing levels now.
"The season has been cut two months early. We have been employing and training staff for our projected growth as we have been growing in tourism, we have to now revisit this."
The company is one of several tourist attractions which have banded together to offer a 10 per cent Kiwis-only discount on their attractions in hopes domestic travellers will help lessen the economic impact of the loss of international tourists.
Arthouse Accommodation owner Memphis Robson-Frentz said she was thankful for the kiwifruit season keeping those with existing working visas in the Bay.
"We've had a few cancellations but I'm not concerned about the next three months due to the kiwifruit industry.
"But it is after that where I think there will be a fairly significant drop in tourists from Europe and those are a significant portion of our tourists."
Priority One chief executive Nigel Tutt said businesses needed to have confidence in the Government and the announcement was "sizeable".
Tutt said the wage subsidies and support for leave was positive for businesses that were currently very uncertain.
The Bay's tourism and hospitality sectors would be the most affected by the pandemic, he said, but there was no industry specifics on where the money would be spent.
Tutt said job losses and businesses failing was the extreme. "Undoubtedly, this is a very uncertain and difficult time.
"What we want to do is it give employers as much confidence to employ or, if they can't, for staff to have a safety net.
But he said it was important to note tourism and hospitality were not the region's major industries.
"It is not the end of the world. There are very good industries that I would expect can weather the storm."
Tauranga Chamber of Commerce chief executive Matt Cowley said the funding announcement "matched perfectly" to what small-to-medium businesses that made up the bulk of Tauranga's economy needed.
Cowley hoped the funding announcement would help tourism operators in the Western Bay of Plenty be more prepared. "But it is going to be tough for Rotorua and possibly the Eastern Bay of Plenty."
The minimum wage increase would also prove a risk for some businesses, he said.
Tourism Bay of Plenty chief executive Kristin Dunne said she did not have specific data to quantify the impacts on the Bay at this time but said the effects of Covid-19 and the travel restrictions were unprecedented, broad and evolving all the time.
"Our focus and concern are for our tourism industry whose livelihoods depends upon the visitor economy."
To the year-end January 2020, the visitor economy in the Coastal Bay of Plenty was worth $1.121b per annum.
The 2018 to 2019 cruise industry contributed $90.3m to this visitor economy.
"We encourage locals to spend locally to support the many businesses that will be suffering at this time," Dunne said.
Hospitality New Zealand accommodation sector Bay of Plenty chairman and motel owner Tony Bullot said there had been 10 times more cancellations than normal which would impact all staff.
"Less demand means less staff. Tourism, international and corporate, has gone from busy to near zero."
Bullot said the Government's package would help companies keep some staff but it wasn't going to help bring business.
"There are still hard times ahead for the tourism industry. We are doing our best, but it's too hard to say what will happen in the future."
Retail NZ chief executive Greg Harford said he had heard large parts of the retail sector across the country had been severely impacted by the Covid-19 crisis - and the Bay was no exception.
"There has been a significant slump in discretionary spending in retail, both in-store and online.
"There are real and deep impacts on many Bay retailers, and a number of firms are looking to cut staff hours and potentially lay people off. Laying people off is always a last resort, but is likely if the situation does not improve."
However, Harford said the key at this stage was there was no reason to avoid the shops.
"By continuing to shop, customers can help support local businesses through these difficult times.
"For those self-isolating, many local firms in the Bay have online shopping options, which means customers can buy the goods they need without leaving home."
He encouraged people to shop from reputable NZ websites to help avoid international shipping delays likely because of significant cuts to flight schedules.
Craigs Investment Partners head of private wealth research, Mark Lister said the announcement was always going to have to be significant enough for the level of desperation.
The areas the package focussed on were also to be expected, which was keeping people in jobs, he said.
"Will it be enough to keep us out of recession? Probably not. Will it be enough to save every single job that could be lost and every business that might fail? Probably not.
"But it has definitely softened the blow."
The newly upgraded Waitaha Reserve has been officially opened in Welcome Bay, Tauranga.