Kiwis urged to holiday in 'own backyard' as tourism industry struggles through Covid-19

May 19, 2020

The PM visited the tourist hot spot of Rotorua on her first journey out of Wellington since lockdown.

"Go and experience your own backyard" is a call that kept bubbling up today in New Zealand's most famous thermal holiday hotspot - Rotorua - where the Prime Minister rallied support for the struggling tourism sector.

Jacinda Ardern's visit to Rotorua is the first time she's left Wellington in two months because of the lockdown.

She also hinted that encouraging domestic tourism could lead to extra public holidays for Kiwis.

At Rotorua's Te Puia centre today, there was a mastercarver back in the rhythm of mahi, his work catching some special attention from Ms Ardern.

At the centre, 150 jobs were lost because of Covid-19.

"It was an extremely tough time, in the matter of a week we had to lay off approximately 80 per cent of our staff," general manager Eraia Kiel told 1 NEWS.

But today, there was a convoy bearing gifts: nearly $8 million of  Government funding over two years.

While appreciated, those impacted by the cuts say it's just a start of what's needed.

"It's a start. It's a beginning," Mr Kiel says.

"The crust of the bread is better than nothing, you know."

Tourism is Rotorua's largest employer and is conveniently just down the road from the country's largest population base, Auckland.

Ms Ardern is appealing for Kiwis to get out and explore the country, while borders remain shut to incoming tourists.

"Come and experience hospitality and culture in your own backyard," she says.

"Come and take a two-hour trip and experience it yourselves."

Rotorua’s tourists pumped $800 million into the local economy last year. 

Surprisingly, more came from the domestic side with $500 million spent by Kiwis and only $300 million spent by international visitors. 

With lockdown now lifted, Queen's Birthday weekend is shaping up to be a big one.

Redwoods Treewalk's Bruce Thomasen says they've been getting some very strong inquiries.

"We opened over the weekend and we've hosted 500 to 600 people in the last four days," he says.

Kiwis used to spend billions on international travel and it's now hoped the "backyard" will see a good amount of that money.

Adaptation and resilience is now at the centre of the country's oldest tourism destination.

"At the moment we're just trying to maintain this place, get it upgraded and ready to open again," Te Puia's James Rickard says.

"It'll be a different scenario but that's what you have to do, you have to adapt."

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