Before the pandemic, Makarora was a significant stop on the West Coast tourist highway with "bumper-to-bumper" traffic.
Last Friday, only five cars passed through the small township in an hour. Both cafes remain temporarily closed due to lack of staff and no demand.
Wonderland Lodge manager Reon Morland said the impact of the closed borders had been "devastating and crippling".
"We’ve been right down on everything. We are unable to provide cafe, restaurant or bar to any of our visitors," he said.
"It’s hard on the community as well, because we were a bit of a community hub providing the post office, petrol station, dairy, cafe and restaurant, as well as socially on a Friday night.
"A lot of the locals would come down, and without the 24-hour petrol station and local post office, it’s been hard on the community having us shut down."
He was hoping things would start getting better soon.
However, with the reintroduction of tourists, having enough staff was a growing concern.
"We have bookings with meals from November, so somehow we’ll have to go from this [two staff] to that [a full-capacity team]."
Previously the team had consisted of more than 20 staff members including a chef, kitchen hands, bar staff, cafe staff, receptionists and housekeepers.
"We had our staff that we had to let go of, and they left the valley. The knowledge of how the place goes and how the place runs goes with those staff," Mr Morland said.
The adverse effects of the staffing shortage had been felt this past Christmas.
"We were overrun with customers unexpectedly heading to the West Coast — [we were] under-stocked and under-staffed, the customers didn’t get a full offering and opportunities were missed," he said.
The film Nude Tuesday was shot at Wonderland Lodge in September and October 2020, the cast and crew staying on site.
With Makarora’s petrol station/cafe temporarily closed, the closest petrol stations are in Haast and Lake Hawea, about 80km and 50km away respectively.
The township is the base for many outdoor experiences such as jet boating on the Wilkin River and hiking spots only accessible by air.
Popular attractions also include the nearby Blue Pools and walking routes such as the Brewster Track.
Department of Conservation data shows an average of 90,000 visitors went to the Blue Pools per year before Covid-19, compared with about 55,000 last year.
