Operating in multi-alert level NZ “frustrating” – Tourism NZ

21st August 2020 By Shannon Williams | shannon@tourismticker.com | @tourismticker

Auckland’s return to level 3 lockdown is “frustrating” for Tourism New Zealand forcing it to operate in a multi-alert level domestic market, says chief executive Stephen England-Hall.

Speaking on the Tourism NZ Covid-19 and domestic market update webinar earlier this week, England-Hall said the move into levels 3 and 2 last week was another challenge for the sector.

Stephen England-Hall

“Certainly it’s another hurdle for us to overcome, and it’s another thing we have to contend with moving forward, the increasing likelihood that we will have further periods where different parts of the economy might be at different levels,” he said.

“That complexity recognises that we are not completely out of the woods yet, even domestically.”

England-Hall said the sector saw a great recovery for a period during alert level 1, which started on 8 June.

The agency already had a draft plan in the event the country would be operating under different alert levels.

“It’s gone from being something we might want to use, to something we absolutely have to use,” England-Hall said.

“It’s not an unexpected scenario, it’s just a bit frustrating, especially with the momentum that has been built.

“Our recent results show the huge amount of support for the sector and getting behind local, and supporting our business, and now we have to find a way to recalibrate against this new reality.”

With Auckland at level 3, a huge chunk of expenditure had been taken out of regional New Zealand.

“But with the rest of New Zealand at level 2, how do we enable that part of the country to operate?” England-Hall asked.

“And when Auckland does come out of level 3, how do we ensure that we stimulate both the movement of Aucklanders around New Zealand, and then secondly how do we get other Kiwis back into Auckland?”

Bjoern Spreitzer

TNZ’s general manager for domestic, Bjoern Spreitzer, said that despite the success of the Do Something New, New Zealand campaign to date, the challenges would keep coming.

“We will see the most challenging period coming our way,” he said.

“I’m confident that domestic will pick up some of the shortfall, but it’s just a reality that as we come from October onwards, we will really start to feel the [impact of] no international visitors.”

Spreitzer said the agency’s current strategy remained relevant across all Covid-19 alert levels, even as different areas of the country operated at different levels.

“Putting the ‘new’ into a New Zealand holiday holds true and is relevant across all Covid levels,” he said.

“We want Kiwis to do new things, and we know that New Zealanders want to try new things. The strategy holds up really well against those alert levels.”

The campaign had so far reached more than three million people, with 70,000 visits to newzealand.com per week.

“We know that Kiwis are starting to get familiar with the campaign, and getting excited about a domestic holiday,” Spreitzer said.

“We just want to make sure that any TNZ activity matches the Covid alert levels. We want to make sure that whatever we do is supported by the approach to health and security, and that our campaign adds to that.”