Holidaymakers fortify optimism of Marlborough tourism companies

Sunday, 3 January 2021

Holidaymakers flock to the beach, on New Zealand's first New Year's Day with borders closed by the coronavirus pandemic.

If Kiwis keep buying icecreams, booking hiking tours and shopping at this rate, Marlborough’s tourism-reliant businesses can start to recover from a rough year, they say.

A balmy 25-degree Celsius New Year’s Day drew people to the seaside in Marlborough, with many hikers, campers, swimmers and shoppers hailing from outside the region.

Tracey Bentley and her family are not that disappointed by the border closures, hitting the water at Whites Bay on Friday.

Christchurch woman Tracey Bentley was camping at Whites Bay for four nights with her husband and two children, a fairly different type of holiday to their usual at this time of year.

“We’ve been to Australia, America, places like that. But since we can’t go overseas, we’re getting the kids out to see New Zealand instead. It’s actually been great,” Bentley said, preparing to drag her kayak down the beach.

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Wilderness Guides owner operator Steve Gibbons has had a busy summer, a relief after a very difficult year.

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Marlborough’s economy, which counted tourism among its main industries, was down 14.4 per cent in June 2020 compared to June 2019, the second worst dip in the country after Otago, according to an Infometrics report from December.

However, by September the regional economy was up 1.4 per cent compared to September last year, partly attributed to an increase in consumer spending.

The team at Indulge Ice Cream Parlour is hoping the busy summer season lasts at least another few weeks.

Wilderness Guides owner operator Steve Gibbons said his business was on track to sell more tours than last summer, despite not having overseas travellers with the borders closed by pandemic precautions.

The Picton business suffered a dramatic drop in kayaking and cycle tours since international visitors dropped off in March, but this summer hiking tours were in hot demand from Kiwis, he said.

“And e-bike tours have been through the roof.”

Coping without the cruise ships, from left, Sailor Bloomfield-Griffiths, Mike Stewart, Ollie Stewart, and Mel Stewart.

Cantabrians and Aucklanders made up a large proportion of his customers this summer, he said.

The busy season had been a relief after border closures forced him to reduce his team of 15 to three.

Latitude 41 co-owner Craig Ferguson says Picton seems almost as busy as previous summers, to his surprise.

“It’s been tough. We’ve lost people that worked for us for eight, nine, 10 years, who helped build the business, so when you don’t have a job for them any more, that’s the hard part,” Gibbons said.

“We used to have two reservations staff, and now I’m having to learn the software … that’s the reality of Covid.”

Hikers had been so impressed by the Queen Charlotte Track it had been “almost marketing itself,” Gibbons said.

“At each stop along the way you have a bed, an en suite, your bags have already been delivered, you have a look at the wine list and you have a three-course meal from a chef. There’s no other walk like it in New Zealand, with that level of comfort.”

A good summer aside, Gibbons said he would not be able to start hiring staff again until international guests returned.

“Opening our borders to Australia would be very valuable to us. There’s a massive Australian market for hiking … Hopefully this vaccine works.”

Picton’s Indulge Ice Cream Parlour co-owner Mel Stewart said last January they were flat out selling their famous hokey pokey ice cream to cruise ship passengers, who arrived at Picton in the thousands.

“We are certainly missing the cruise ships. Prior to Christmas it was pretty quiet … but these few weeks of holidaymakers have been pretty good,” Stewart said.

“We expect it might last another month, and then it will go quiet again, when everyone goes back to work. But that’s just how it is, we’re all in the same boat.”

Latitude 41 co-owner Craig Ferguson said the store seemed to have a normal amount of customers for a summer day without a cruise ship in. Kiwi visitors must have more or less made up for the missing international guests, he said.

“We are pleasantly surprised by how it’s going. Kiwis are out supporting local businesses, and there’s a lot of people who have come from outside the area, they have a look and think it’s a nice destination,” Ferguson said.

“There has been a lot of people visiting who said they hadn’t been to Picton for years, so it’s nice to see people coming back, and rediscovering the place. Picton is always like this in the summer, good vibes on the foreshore, cafes and restaurants all buzzing, people getting out on the boats.”