Report shows Fiordland unemployment rate could rise to 33 per cent

Tuesday, 30 June 2020

The Fiordland tourism region which includes sites such as Milford Sound expect a 33 per cent unemployment rate in the next four to eight weeks

A Great South reports shows that a third of all employees in Fiordland could be without of a job within the next four to eight weeks.

Employment figures were gathered from a survey conducted between April 2 and May 31 with 179 Fiordland businesses completing the survey employing a total of 1401 workers.

The report showed that 33 per cent of the total number of full time employees have or are expected be laid off in the next four to eight weeks.

Fiordland businesses mentioned in the survey that marketing, financial support, and assistance with business strategy and planning as areas that support would be beneficial.

The report also showed that Fiordland had the largest decline in visitor spend across all regional tourism organisations in the country.

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From Marketview data, Destination Fiordland recorded a decline of 66 per cent in electronic visitor spend during the three-month period from March to May.

For the same period, Queenstown recorded a decline of 59.8 per cent, with a national average decline of 45 per cent.

Great South strategic projects manager Steve Canny said the Te Anau/Fiordland area had lost $90 million from its average visitor spend in the first five months of the year.

The decline was not just a result of Covid-19 but also the floods in February, which wiped out infrastructure like the Great Walk tracks and Milford Rd.

There was no disguising that the next 18 months would be difficult, but the fact that Milford Sound was an internationally recognised destination would not change when borders reopened, he said.

To help with the decline, Canny would like to see Department of Conservations Jobs for Nature package allocated quickly along with the $13.7 million into Great Walk recovery track projects.

The focus would be to keep people in the area because avoiding structural change to townships was critical, he said.

On Friday, the Government announced a $300 million dollar infrastructure package to Queenstown, and a $25 million dollar package that waived DOC concessions for tourism operators working on conservation land.

The packages come out of the $400m dollar Tourism Recovery Fund.

Tourism minister Kelvin Davis said Fiordland and the wider Southland region would benefit from the Milford Opportunities Project.

The project received $3m from the International Visitor Levy in September last year for stage two.

The project would develop a master plan to manage visitor numbers in the Te Anau/Milford area.

Local businesses had also taken advantage of the Government's wage subsidy following Covid-19, Davis said.

Applications from Fiordland operators had been received for the Strategic Tourism Assets Protection Programme which allocated $20.2m between 31 regional tourism organisations as part of the fund.

Destination Fiordland will have access to up to $400,000 as part of the funding to RTOs.

Destination Fiordland manager Madeleine Peacock said it was almost soul-destroying to be in Fiordland, knowing what the data was showing and to not be heard by central government.

The Milford Opportunities Project was announced before Covid-19, and what Fiordland needed was immediate support.

There were plenty of 'shovel ready' projects, such as the cycleway trails, that could keep people employed while waiting for international visitors, she said.

Southland District Council deputy mayor Ebel Kremer said Te Anau was Queenstown's poor cousin that was forgotten about.

Milford Sound was an important tourism destination and visitors needed to go through Te Anau, not Queenstown to get there, Kremer said.

The $25m investment to waive DOC concessions was welcomed but would only help big operators, and the small business, such as motels and restaurants, had not received any additional support.

It was important to note that the 33 per cent unemployment rate did include seasonal workers but there would be a lot of people who do live in the area struggling, he said.