Accommodation providers Justine Seymour-Wilson and Bayden Wilson say Aucklanders make up a large percentage of business for Hawke's Bay operators. Photo / Paul Taylor
Accommodation providers Justine Seymour-Wilson and Bayden Wilson say Aucklanders make up a large percentage of business for Hawke's Bay operators. Photo / Paul Taylor
Before Delta, couple Justine Seymour-Wilson and Bayden Wilson had every weekend booked at their luxury vineyard accommodation until the end of the year.
Post Delta they've lost 70 per cent of bookings.
The couple, whose accommodation business Kiwiesque operates in Eskdale on the outskirts of Napier, are calling on morepeople to get vaccinated to help open up domestic travel and help the struggling tourism industry.
It comes as the region gets ready for another Super Saturday-style event this weekend with the Hawke's Bay District Health Board set to announce full details soon.
Seymour-Wilson said her business was already suffering but would be in a far worse position if Aucklanders could not enter the region for the crucial Christmas and January holiday season.
She said there must be more done in the region to get the vaccination rate up to 90 per cent by Christmas, as Hawke's Bay was currently in the lower half of DHBs in New Zealand for vaccinations.
Delta has dealt a cruel blow to Justine Seymour-Wilson and Bayden Wilson who previously had every weekend fully booked at their luxury vineyard accommodation. Photo / Paul Taylor
Seymour-Wilson said there should be many more Super Saturdays held in the region with only one held so far, for example.
"Like everyone, none of us [accommodation businesses] know whether all of us have to cancel bookings from December 20 on," she said.
"We will keep going but the stress and the worry [is very difficult]."
She said they were receiving financial support from the Government but even with that help it was a struggle to cover the costs of running a business and paying a mortgage.
She said more clarity was also needed from the Government around what accommodation providers should do and say with unvaccinated guests.
She said she had tried to speak to Napier MP Stuart Nash about their difficulties and concerns last month, but claimed she had only been given a meeting at the end of November.
On Monday, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced plans to allow Aucklanders to travel over summer and Christmas.
Full details are yet to be released but she said she was making "a commitment" to allow Aucklanders to travel outside their region during that time.
Meanwhile, Nash said he was confident Hawke's Bay was doing enough to reach 90 per cent by Christmas at the rate it was going.
He encouraged more people to get vaccinated and to seek information about the vaccine if they were concerned, and said it was a matter of time before Covid reached Hawke's Bay.
"It will hit and it will happen before Christmas," he said. "I think that will scare some people to get vaccinated."
He said his role as an MP and Minister meant he was often out of the electorate which did result in wait times for constituents to meet with him.
Hawke's Bay Chamber of Commerce chief executive Karla Lee said the majority of domestic tourism in the region came from Auckland which was hurting the industry.
"With summer fast approaching I am aware that this is a concern for retail, tourism and hospitality providers," she said.
"Businesses are exploring ways to entice visitors from regions other than Auckland to meet this deficit."
A Hawke's Bay Tourism spokeswoman said spending from Aucklanders in Hawke's Bay was worth about $75 million a year when it was not in lockdown.
"Aucklanders sit just ahead of Wellington as our biggest market of out-of-region visitors, so naturally they are of critical importance to our visitor economy," she said.
"Moving to the new Covid-19 Protection Framework will provide immeasurable relief and benefit to the visitor economy, not in the least because it will give our operators more certainty, confidence and ability to operate without restriction."
Hawke's Bay has a current vaccination rate of 75 per cent of the eligible population with two doses and 86 per cent with one dose.
