Top 10 Holiday Parks are considering whether to introduce vaccine mandates for summer holiday visitors. Photo / Supplied
One of New Zealand's largest resort groups is considering options for how to accommodate unvaccinated campers in preparation for summer.
TOP 10, which runs fifty campgrounds across the country, said campgrounds have some difficult booking decisions to make ahead of the high season.
Already, CEO David Ovendale said local lockdowns have played havoc during the October school holidays and Labour Day bookings.
"If we lost the summer that would be extremely difficult," he said.
The possibility of a "No Jab, No stay" policy was now a plan being discussed by the board and campground owners to shore up vital summer bookings, he told Newstalk ZB.
Whichever decision they make, it won't please everyone says Ovendale, but that's the challenge the industry is facing.
"Everyone has the right to choose whether or not to get vaccinated but do you have the right to sleep in a tent 10 metres away from me if I'm vaccinated and you're not? That's where life gets a lot more interesting."
"We're hoping for some leadership and guidance but if that's not forthcoming then we'll have to forge our own way forward."
The nature of the campgrounds has meant that the parks were easily made compliant with previous distancing measures and visitor caps.
However without government guidlines, Ovendale said they were taking their lead from industry leaders such as Air New Zealand.
On Sunday the carrier said it would be mandating vaccines for all international travellers from 1 February.
Air New Zealand are now considering extending this to their domestic network, but would have to balance this with the need for air connectivity across the country.
The use of rapid antigen tests was also being considered as an option for unvaccinated passengers.
"Asking domestic travellers to be vaccinated is something we've been looking at but haven't made any decisions on," said a spokesperson for the airline.
