'This city is insane.' The $26 meal from a Queenstown food mall. Photo / Supplied
'This city is insane.' The $26 meal from a Queenstown food mall. Photo / Supplied
Queenstown got a taste of peak business this weekend as, after three years’ delay, 12,000 runners descended on Wakatipu.
But there were signs that Otago hospitality was straining under the weight of hungry runners. Some were shocked by the prices.
“This is $26 in Queenstown from a food court. This city is insane,” said one tourist, who noticed the mark-up.
The rice dish and a side of cola left him with little change at the recently opened food court in O’Connells Queenstown Mall.
Although he told the Herald he was willing to pay, he was shocked at how far his money went in Queenstown. Particularly on supposedly ‘budget’ options.
“I think I was more surprised by how small it was” said the runner who had come from Dunedin to compete in the 10km race. Having posted the image to Twitter, he had over 600 side with him.
The Queenstown Marathon finally went ahead after Covid delays. Photo / Ross Mackay
He had expected it to be super busy downtown, following the event. However there were signs hospitality was also facing shortages, adding to the pressures.
“There were signs on stores about reduced capacity (hours) and asking people to be patient with the service and a lot of ‘we are hiring signs’,” he said.
The Queenstown Marathon returned for the first time since 2020 on Saturday, with sold-out competitions projected to bring $20 million to the city over the weekend.
Fourteen per cent of entries were from overseas, according to the event organisers. It was a perfect stress test for restaurants anticipating the first summer of open borders and a very busy Christmas period.
Runners knew that looking for food downtown would be a bun fight, with Queenstown close to capacity. However, it appears that staffing shortages made issues worse.
The refurbished O'Connells Mall in Queenstown was opened this month. Photo / Handout, Skyline Enterprises Queenstown
Blue Kanu’s owner Karen Hattaway told the Otago Daily Times his restaurant had been booked for months.
“There’s just nothing. We’re jam-packed, it’s game on.”
Other hospitality groups were concerned about the challenges that lay ahead, with indicators of a huge summer inbound. Labour shortages were exacerbating costs for visitors on top of underlying inflation.
The legacy of closed borders has left a shortage of short-term work for restaurants but a lack of housing has also made it hard to meet demands. Lou McDowell, co-owner of Queenstown restaurant Flame, told the ODT offering accommodation to employees was the only way they could get enough staff to operate.
The O’Connells food court Eatspace, owned by the Skyline Enterprises, was newly opened this month.
The revamped mall also features the newly opened “T Galleria”, containing 120 brands within the 1800 metre-square space, including Ralph Lauren & Gucci Beauty.
Representatives of Queenstown’s regional tourism organisation said they weren’t aware of higher prices than anywhere else in New Zealand.
In a statement, the Queenstown Chamber of Commerce said there was a huge gap between the number of jobs needed and workers to fill them in the vital hospitality sector.
“The hospitality and accommodation sector alone would need to expand its headcount by 1,500 workers just to return to its pre-Covid summer level,” said economist Benje Patterson, who said the marathon only made the shortage more apparent.
In a report commissioned by the QLDC, he advised businesses “wherever possible” to look at ways to keep up output with a limited workforce this summer.
