Paula Bennett: Jacinda Ardern needs solutions for hospitality and tourism not catchy slogans

The tourism and hospitality struggle is real; some hotel rooms are not being serviced daily because of staff shortages. Photo / Getty Images

Opinion

OPINION

The Prime Minister has been on her grand tour announcing the "Great Reopening of New Zealand". Those that do visit New Zealand often come from afar at a huge cost both financially and in time to get here. It is the trip of a lifetime for many, so the experience needs to be exceptional. Travellers come to New Zealand because of our unique and beautiful flora and fauna and environment – they leave talking about the people.

We are at real risk of overselling and underdelivering. We can't currently cater to the standards of service in hospitality and tourism for the domestic market due to staff shortages let alone cope with all those international visitors. Good service stands out as exceptional now because so much of it is pretty substandard. Generally, it is not their fault, they are either new to the job and then thrown into the deep end or so overworked they are tired and struggling through a shift.

We hear reports of hotel rooms not being serviced daily, restaurants and bars restricting opening hours and menus pared back because they don't have the chefs to do a full menu. The tourism and hospitality struggle is real. When we were unnecessarily locked down for so long that workers in these sectors were laid off or their employers closed their doors permanently, they got other jobs. With an unemployment rate of 3.2 per cent, there are no New Zealanders desperate for work and rushing back. Add to that the rising Covid infections and a senseless traffic light system that now only provides a sense of fear that we could be moved into another setting at any minute - again decimating these sectors. People do not have the confidence to leave their current jobs for the uncertainty of a sector at the mercy of the Prime Minister and her Cabinet, especially as there are no longer clear criteria for moving settings.

We are now playing catch up in welcoming in foreign workers. We have had the tap turned off too hard for too long. Ironically, as we now compete to attract workers to New Zealand we do not have the workforce to process their applications in a timely manner. We used to have a bit of arrogance on our side. Who wouldn't want to come and live and work in the paradise that is New Zealand? Now we compete with other countries which have opened their arms and their borders well before we did, have immigration policies and a path to residency that is simpler than ours and equals us in lifestyle. The Prime Minister and her Cabinet need to put some work into recognising local challenges and put practical measures in place to counter them instead of catchy slogans that don't have any substance or reality behind them.

Paula Bennett is a former Deputy Prime Minister and National Party politician who now works at Bayleys Real Estate as national director-customer engagement.