After the most difficult two and a-half years in living memory for those industries, the tourism tap has been turned on.
However, given the critical labour shortage issues being experienced throughout the country, servicing those tourists is proving difficult, with many bars and restaurants in Queenstown, for example, unable to stay open seven days a week, and accommodation providers continuing to restrict capacity.
At Ziptrek Ecotours in Queenstown yesterday, Mr Nash said about 145,250 tourists had arrived in New Zealand in the four weeks to October 26, with international card spend between August 29 and September 25 at 88% of pre-Covid levels.
Looking at the next few months, he predicted "tills are going to be ringing" and it would be a "very, very busy time for a lot of tourism operators".
"I think for a number of owner-operators it’s going to be quite stressful, because there’s going to be a lot of people coming through the door."
While the Government had also approved 35,000 working holiday visas, about 10,000 had so far arrived, while many employers report processing delays with the third and final step of the new accredited employer work visa, which is the issuing of the visa itself.
He acknowledged it was "not all peaches and cream" as tourism ramped up, and labour shortages were creating more stress.
Mr Nash, who also holds the small business portfolio, said he did hold concerns for small owner-operator businesses, in particular, over the coming summer.
"I don’t want to say, ‘now that we’ve got the borders open, everything is dandy’, because I know there are still stressors on small business owners.
A report pre-Covid found 40% of owner-operators running small businesses said that impacted their mental health and wellbeing — Mr Nash said resulting from that there was a "strong and ambitious work programme" in the small business space pre-Covid.
"That has just taken on a whole new significance.
"All I can say, is we’re doing what we can to attract labour in to this country," Mr Nash said.
"But I do recognise there are stressors at this point."
Queenstown Lakes mayor Glyn Lewers said a Wanaka cafe owner told him the town was excited because "two new South Americans" had just arrived.
"They were squabbling over [who would] get them to work for them.
"It is a live issue."
He hoped to see some working holiday visa-holders, and new accredited employer work visa-holders arrive in the district before Christmas, fearing the potential for reputational damage to "NZ Inc" if the "offerings have diminished".
