Covid-19 restriction changes: Rotorua tourism and hospitality say they may make no difference

Changes to gathering limits and Covid-19 contact tracing app use may not make a difference for Rotorua's tourism and hospitality sector, businesses say.

Meanwhile accommodation providers are still faced with a struggle against global economic headwinds.

From Friday at 11.59pm New Zealanders were no longer required to use the Covid-19 contact tracing app to scan into places they visited.

Indoor gathering limits increased to 200 while outdoor gathering limits were removed altogether.

Last week the Prime Minister also announced vaccine passes were no longer required as part of New Zealand's Covid-19 protection framework from April 4.

Whakarewarewa Thermal Village Tours general manager Mark Gibbons. Photo / Andrew Warner

Whakarewarewa Thermal Village Tours general manager Mark Gibbons didn't think the changes to mandates and vaccine passes in early April would make a difference in visitor numbers.

Gibbons said while the recent changes and the prospect of the border reopening were "fantastic", the news had come "too late" for the business.

"We had just gone through our restructuring and loss of staff," Gibbons told the Rotorua Daily Post.

"A month before the changes, we didn't see what the end of the tunnel could look like."

Gibbons said after the government's wage subsidies ended in December, the business found January and February were nowhere near as busy as expected.

"We've retained a skeleton crew of five staff."

Whakarewarewa Living Māori Village Tours went through a staff restructure before the Prime Minister's announcement. Photo / NZME

However, Gibbons said the business was looking forward to rebuilding.

"The changes in the mandates gives us the ability to reopen to the fullest extent."

Gibbons said visitors to Whakarewarewa Village would find the experience a little different compared to pre-pandemic tours.

"We will continue to ensure that visitors going through the village will be in smaller groups of no more than 20 people at a time."

Gibbons said the choice was made in light of lessons learnt over the last two years.

"We want to make sure we retain the health protection mechanism for those who live in the village and we've found it's a much more enjoyable visitor experience."

Rotorua Canopy Tours general manager Paul Button. Photo / Andrew Warner

Rotorua Canopy Tours general manager Paul Button said the changes opened up the market so more people could experience Canopy Tours but didn't change how the business operated.

"As a society, it reduces the division," Button said.

"It's just so awkward when a group has one or two people who haven't been vaccinated."

Button said corporate group bookings in particular were affected by the vaccine pass requirement and had to cancel.

"They cancelled one by one, day after day. It was really upsetting for everyone."

Rotorua Chamber of Commerce chief executive Bryce Heard. Photo / Andrew Warner

Rotorua Chamber of Commerce chief executive Bryce Heard said he welcomed the Prime Minister's announcements.

"Most people are Covid fatigued and would like to get on with their lives."

Heard said the changes the pending removal of mandates and the requirement for vaccine passes would definitely make a difference.

"From the Chambers' own perspective, we've had five functions cancelled because people were afraid of creating a mass-spreader incident.

"I think giving that signal to people will let people know it's time to come out from under the bed and start living their lives again."

Heard said the Chamber of Commerce's staff would be back in the office from today.

Velocity Valley general manager Debbie Guptill said the removal of requirements for vaccine passes would be "hugely beneficial".

"We've already had untold amounts of people coming through our website asking us about the vaccine passes and mandates," Guptil said.

"There are so many happy people."

Guptill said Velocity Valley hoped to capitalise on the Easter and school holidays.

New Zealand Restaurant Association chief executive Marisa Bidois also hoped the removal of mandates in April would boost customer confidence.

"But the increase of limits to 200 while the seated and separated rule remains, will have little to no impact on our small and medium-sized business which make up the majority of the industry."

Before the Prime Minister made the latest mandate and vaccine pass announcements a survey of Restaurant Association members showed 77 per cent of respondents supported the removal of the requirement for hospitality workers to be fully vaccinated.

The same survey of members indicated 87 per cent would support changes to the requirement for customers to present a My Vaccine Pass.

"In a busy restaurant environment and with limited staff it is not always easy to have sufficient staff to be constantly monitoring diners' compliance," Bidois said.

Our House co-owner Tim Smith. Photo / Andrew Warner

Our House co-owner Tim Smith said the changes to mandates would not make any difference to his staffing.

"Nearly everybody in New Zealand being vaxxed it was good when we needed it because it gave people assurance," Smith said.

"The thing that's holding us back at the moment is people being in isolation."

Smith said he had enough staff, all fully vaccinated, but not enough customers.

"This last week has been a small improvement. We're turning a corner."

Hospitality NZ accommodation sector Bay of Plenty chairman and Tauranga's 850 Cameron Motel owner Tony Bullot. Photo / NZME

Hospitality NZ accommodation sector Bay of Plenty chairman and Tauranga's 850 Cameron Motel owner Tony Bullot said whatever changes the recent announcements could make were not visible yet.

"The announcements do change things in that people can have weddings and funerals again and outdoor sport.

"Ironically, One Love could have gone ahead but was just cancelled last week."

Bullot said that even if Covid-19 was taken out of the equation the global economic headwinds were going to be hard to weather.

"People are nervous now and [the economy] is slowing down," Bullot said.

"When the economy's doing well the accommodation sector does well."

However, Bullot said it was important for the public to know one thing.

"We're open. We're safe. Keep coming."