Tauranga Mayor Tenby Powell. Photo / File
Tauranga residents are "all in this together" when it comes to keeping coronavirus out of the city, says mayor Tenby Powell.
Powell, along with neighbouring mayor Garry Webber and leaders in the Bay's tourism and business sectors, believe the Government has made the right decision in introducing more travel restrictions.
"There's no easy way to get around this, we just need to mitigate as best we can," he said.
"The Government has made the right decision ... we need to protect ourselves from what has the potential to be a very difficult path to navigate."
The restrictions implemented at midnight Sunday mean all travellers, except for those coming from the Pacific Islands, will have to self-isolate for 14 days on their arrival to New Zealand.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said the rules were "among the toughest in the world". Ardern also told New Zealanders not to travel overseas if they don't have to and issued stark advice: "no hugs, hongi or handshakes".
Powel believed the Port of Tauranga, logistics, education and the food and beverage industries would be affected the most by the restrictions.
However, he was especially concerned about Covid-19 reaching Tauranga as mostly those over the age of 60 had been affected by the virus.
"We know coronavirus affects the elderly [and] we in Tauranga have a greater percentage of plus-65-year-olds than any other city in New Zealand - I'm pleased that the Government's made the right call because we need to protect our citizens."
Powell was looking forward to the Government's economic package, which will be released tomorrow. Western Bay of Plenty mayor Garry Webber also believed the travel restrictions were the appropriate thing to do given the nature of the pandemic.
"I think the Prime Minister and the Government have made the right call of let's get ahead of this rather than reacting to a serious problem before it gets too far ahead ... Let's be proactive rather than reactive."
Webber said the Western Bay of Plenty District Council trialled a staff exercise with employees working from home to ensure if staff and the region were affected they could manage.
It was disappointing that cruise ships would no longer dock in Tauranga, Webber said.
"It will have an impact on those who service that industry," he said.
"But it is a government decision that we have got to abide by and if we did have a major incursion in Tauranga it is what is in the best interest to be proactive and pray we come through this in good shape."
In a media statement released yesterday, the Port of Tauranga said it would be working with border authorities, cruise lines and their agents to "manage the impact" of the cancellation of the remainder of the summer cruise season.
The port said it had been expecting another 15 cruise ships to arrive before the end of April, but they were now expecting them to be cancelled.
Its revenue will be impacted, but not materially, by the loss of the berthing and service fees expected from cancelled cruise ship bookings.
"We do not expect any job losses from the cancellations, as our cruise ship-related seasonal staff can be redeployed to other duties."
The loss of cruise ship visits would also allow the port to more efficiently manage the kiwifruit bulk export season, which was due to begin on Monday.
A Port of Tauranga spokeswoman said the port had "multiple areas" of business where staff would be moved to following the cruise ship cancellations.
"Most of the staff that are employed for the cruise ship season are in security," and since the port operated security throughout the business, they would just be doing other duties, the spokeswoman said.
Tauranga Airport manager Ray Dumble said while the restrictions were more likely to affect airports where there is international travel, there was still a small "flow-on effect" from those who were continuing their journey domestically.
"We're not really affected, we don't have international passengers," he said.
"The operation's normal for us, we're just taking extra hygiene precaution."
Dumble said they had a pandemic plan in place, and would be following the Ministry of Health's lead as to when the plan took effect.
"It may be a case of closing the airport down, but I'd say that's a fair way down the track."
Tauranga Chamber of Commerce chief executive Matt Cowley said he wasn't concerned that Tauranga's economy would be badly affected and the "good thing" about the restrictions happening at this time was it was the beginning of kiwifruit season.
"China's opening up their ports now, right at the start of the kiwifruit season so it's looking like that can get through to it's largest market," he said.
"Europe's still unknown but at least we can still export, which will be really big for the forestry and kiwifruit sectors. We're working with Tourism Bay of Plenty quite closely [and] we are going to be consulting with the tourism operators."
He was confident the Government was doing everything it could to help Tauranga's businesses.
Kristin Dunne, chief executive of Tourism Bay of Plenty, said the impact would be felt "for some time".
"This is an unprecedented situation and too early to forecast at this stage," she said.
"Our thoughts and concern are with those businesses who rely on the visitor economy for their livelihoods."
A community meeting was planned this Thursday at the Mount Maunganui Surf Club.
In the meantime, Dunne encouraged residents to purchase locally.
"The visitor economy is worth over $1.1billion per annum to the coastal Bay of Plenty and the cruise sector makes up over $90million of this.
"We encourage locals to spend locally to support the many businesses that will be suffering at this time."
Key points from Saturday's announcement
• Effective from midnight Sunday, 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
• There will also be further announcements on mass gatherings
