Covid will be a logistical nightmare for bus tours when passengers, drivers and guides get sick

Thursday, 18 August 2022

Haka is bringing in five guides from a partner company in Australia to ensure it has a couple on stand-by as back-up if a guide gets Covid-19 on tour.

Group tours gearing up for international visitors are facing a logistical nightmare when passengers, bus drivers and guides fall sick with Covid-19.

Coach companies plan to have drivers on stand-by to replace any who test positive, and Tranzit Group operations director Keven Snelgrove says it will be a costly exercise.

“If [a driver] goes down with Covid, and we have to park them in Queenstown for seven days paying $300 a night, that's going to hurt, then we have to fly another driver in.”

Leisure Time Tours will resume inbound international group tours next month after two years of running domestic tours, and managing director Scott Mehrtens says the industry will need to work together.

The tour industry is desperate to recruit experienced drivers, because many older coach drivers like David McGregor retired when Covid-19 struck. (First published 2018).

* Coach tours hit the road again across NZ, despite Covid-19 pandemic

* Local bus driver contracts Coronavirus after Ruby Princess cruise ship visit

“If I get a call at 2am from someone saying ‘I’ve got a driver in Rotorua with Covid, can you help me?’ we’ll respond if we can.

“There’s no play book for it, we have to be on our toes and ready to roll with the punches.

According to Ministry of Transport guidelines for bus tours issued in April, passengers who test positive for Covid-19 must isolate for seven days, and if they are sharing a room with a partner, that person is classed as a household contact and must isolate too.

Leisure Time Tours managing director Scott Mehrtens says Kiwis who get Covid-19 while on a bus tour can often isolate with friends and family, but it’s a whole different ball game for international customers.

Others on the same tour bus will be considered close contacts who should monitor and test if they become symptomatic.

Operators admit it will get tricky if passengers refuse to do a RAT when they are clearly unwell.

Mehrtens says New Zealanders are pretty compliant about following health guidelines, but overseas visitors who have “moved on from Covid-19,” and are accustomed to being around people with the virus, might not feel the same way about our rules.

“We’ll be reminding them of their obligations. It’s not just about them, it’s about our staff and everyone else who’s on the coach.

Tour bus passengers who come down with Covid-19 will be left behind to isolate, and that could end up adding considerably to the price of their holiday if they are not well insured.

“We reserve the right to refuse to carry people.”

Over peak season hotels may lack capacity for sick guests to extend their stay, or have insufficient staff to provide room service meals, forcing tour passengers to find alternative accommodation, such as Airbnbs, where they can get food delivered.

Haka Tours general manager Eve Lawrence says it will not leave sick passengers to fend for themselves, and as well as assistance with finding isolation accommodation, it will have a 24/7 helpline for anything they may need.

But relocating Covid-positive passengers from remote locations to larger centres will be challenging, and Merhtens is aware of a company that organised for two staff to drive to the West Coast, one in a rental car, to get sick customers back to Christchurch.

All tour group customers are being urged to get comprehensive travel insurance to cover the cost of having to isolate, and re-book their flights home.

Pre-Covid, Tranzit carried about 40,000 inbound tourists, and Snelgrove says they might hit 25,000 this summer.

A number of cancellations have come through recently for pre-Christmas tours, and while the second half of the season is looking more buoyant, there are concerns about staffing levels at hotels and attractions.

Tours from Europe often bring their own guides because of the language issue, but it’s not uncommon for drivers to operate solo, providing the commentary, and managing up to 48 passengers for 20-odd days, and Snelgrove says that takes real skill.

Pre-Covid, it was not unusual for tour coach drivers to work into their 70s and 80s, but many retired when the pandemic struck, and their experience is not easily replaced.

Tranzit will shortly do one of its “school on wheels” training tours, and drivers who normally work the North Island will learn itineraries for the south, so they can cover both islands.

Bus and Coach Association chief executive Ben McFadgen says the national tour coach fleet has dropped from 2000 vehicles pre-pandemic to about 1500.

Getting those parked up for several years back on the road again can cost between $5000 and $7000 by the time they have been through a certificate of fitness, and had window seals replaced.