Tourism: where to from here?

During our 100-odd Covid-free days, local businesses benefitted from the many New Zealanders (and trapped tourists) who visited the island. The school holidays were especially busy, and there was a general feeling that domestic tourism would keep Waiheke’s economy in a relatively healthy state until the border restrictions were lifted. We also had high hopes of a trans-Tasman bubble and travel to some Pacific islands in the near future.

Our government has been acutely aware of the damage to the national economy and implemented a number of measures, including a major funding package, to help mitigate loss of tourism income. In Queenstown and Rotorua. Kiwis have tried hard to spend locally, but the impacts of losing overseas tourists are far-reaching, and the re-emergence of Covid-19 in some Auckland communities has reminded us that our freedom to travel, even in our own part of the world, is still a long way off. In the meantime, it becomes more and more obvious that tourism, here and globally, needs a radical re-think, and there’s been plenty of comment on this in the mainstream and social media.

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