New Zealand’s foodservice and hospitality sectors must feel like they’re screaming into the void on a daily basis. Despite repeated calls of concern regarding the lack of support for the industry under the Traffic Light System, the government has done little to set businesses owners’ minds at ease.
City centres are becoming ghost towns as more and more businesses shut down offices in favour of working from home, and while this has sparked a suburban renaissance, inner-city businesses – especially bars and nightclubs – are continuing to struggle.
“Diner hesitancy is real, and we see it happen each time there is an [government] announcement,” said Marisa Bidois, chief executive of the Restaurant Association.
“We know these restrictions are necessary to battle and manage omicron, but there is definitely concern coming from our sector, especially businesses based in CBD areas. We really would like to see financial support for businesses at Red level. That would ease some of the concerns that our businesses are having.”
A recent survey showed that hospitality businesses were more dissatisfied than ever with the government’s COVID response. 89 percent said they expected the economic environment to be the same if not worse over the next six months, while 86 percent said they were struggling under the Red setting.
“The same businesses are getting hit again and again,” noted Heart of the City CEO Viv Beck.
“It’s cumulative too, we’re going into the third year of this. The city is open, but there are not enough customers and businesses don’t have the tools and policies to support a city centre being open.”
Beck went on to say that, sadly, there will be more closures and she wanted steps in place to support as many businesses as possible to survive.
The government was excited to give out vouchers to enable people to explore Auckland, but where does that leave other regions who are desperate without international tourists?
Queenstown Chamber of Commerce boss Ruth Stokes said March was supposed to be the shining light for Queenstown business, but now, the major draw-cards for domestic tourism have been cancelled.
“The government talked about targeted support for those industries that were most affected, but we haven’t seen that come through. With tourism and hospitality vouchers only available in Auckland … it’s not looking promising.
“People have tried really hard to hang on, and want to be there when we do reopen, and the damage that [government] are doing to the New Zealand brand — I would like to see them appreciate that.”
With support only available for businesses to cover leave for COVID testing and isolation periods, the government seems to have put the blinders on to an industry that pre-COVID, contributed $6.8bn to GDP annually with another $14.6bn coming from purchases by suppliers and staff spending.
How many screaming voices will it take before the void finally speaks back?
