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South Westland businesses say the border reopening dates mean they can start edging out of survival mode after two years of hanging on by their fingernails. ....
Miranda Spary08:47, Jun 10 2021 BROOK SABIN Along a windswept stretch of road from Karamea to Haast you ll find some of the South Island s best hidden gems. This article was published on Scout. Miranda Spary says there’s no time like the present to explore the glitter and fritters of the South Island’s West Coast. Ten years ago, I drove the 803.8km from Nelson to Queenstown on the West Coast road and vowed never to do it again. Admittedly, I’d chosen the busiest time to be on any road – just after New Year. It was nose to tail the whole way, boiling hot, and every ice cream, fuel and loo stop involved a very long queue and a lot of impatient (and anxious, in the case of the loos) waiting. ....
Te Anau is suffering from a lack of tourists. Glacier Valley Eco Tours owner Tash Goodwin said visitor numbers were down by more than 95 per cent, making the update on the border all the more disappointing. “For our business, we re not sure what that means at this stage. We haven t made a call. It could mean that we hibernate, close the business down, start up again another time. We re not sure – it just depends,” Goodwin said. Her business – and the whole of Franz Josef – was in limbo waiting for overseas visitors to return, she said. “We definitely need a date and a really secure date of when the borders will reopen to Australia at least. ....
Regional tourist operators are grappling with another year of uncertainty with some questioning whether their businesses will survive. Visitor numbers to Franz Josef are down by more than 95 percent, one business owner says (file image). Photo: 123RF With the vaccine rollout expected to take a year, and the prime minister saying the trans-Tasman bubble is looking more difficult, the return of international tourists appears a long way off. The bad news just keeps coming for tourism operators up and down the country. Glacier Valley Eco Tours owner Tash Goodwin said visitor numbers were down by more than 95 percent, making the update on the border all the more disappointing. ....