Tauranga tourism sector survives summer but braces for unknown
11 Jan, 2021 05:00 PM
6 minutes to read
To Bay Explorer owner Brandon Stone s surprise, he s having a bumper summer - even without international tourists. We ve been out every day, weather permitting. Sea conditions have been really good. Animal life has been really good too, he said. I didn t know how it was going to go [after the borders closed due to Covid-19] but we ve found that people are active and I guess we are surprised we are filling the boat every day, or close to it.
New Zealand went into alert level 4 lockdown on March 25, and the country s borders have remained closed to tourism since, forcing the tourism sector to survive on the domestic market.