Rayward said pre-Covid the domestic market accounted for only five per cent of Air Safaris’ business. They managed to increase that to 15 per cent after lockdown, he said. “So we were down over 80 per cent of our business, and this hopefully might get us back to 20 or 30 per cent of our pre-Covid business levels.” Rayward said the mood amongst tourism operators in Mackenzie was cautious optimism, with an expectation that visitor numbers will start small and slowly increase.
Alden Williams/Stuff Tekapo Springs sales and marketing manager Andy Murray agreed. “It’s exciting news, but we understand that it’s not going to be instant. The tap’s not going to come back on at a full rate. It’s going to be more of a trickle leading to a steady flow.
Press Release – Ngai Tahu Tourism
Ngāi Tahu Tourism welcomes today’s Government announcement to open the trans-Tasman bubble.
Ngāi Tahu Tourism owns several world-class tourism attractions, and all have been lucky to have incredible domestic support from New Zealanders this past year.
The announcement of the trans-Tasman bubble means the chance to showcase once again some of the most beautiful parts of our country to an international market.
General Manager Jet Boat Operations Jolanda Cave says while there have been many positives to the past year, including the opportunity to see the domestic support shown for local businesses, the closure of the borders has been hard on the tourism industry.
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