Without them, some ski areas will not be able to operate at all, others may only be able to operate at 50% for the season, and some may only be able to offer 50% visitor capacity.
The plea was sent by Ski Areas Association of NZ (SAANZ) on behalf of all ski areas in the country, which says highly-specialised roles within the industry — such as ski patrol, ski/snowboard instructors, lift technicians and snow groomers — are essential for the ski areas’ safe operation.
Those roles were generally filled by a small number of workers who travelled between hemispheres for the ski season, but who were now unable to enter NZ due to Covid-19 border closures.
Queenstown economist Benje Patterson said the implications of not securing the workers went beyond the ski areas.
Last year’s domestic-only season in the Southern Lakes exceeded 600,000 skier days, injecting about $169 million of visitor spending into the economy, which was enough to support about 3025 seasonal jobs in the Queenstown Lakes alone.
Mr Patterson said if ski areas in Queenstown and Wanaka were able to operate at only 50% capacity, or for only half this winter, the economy could lose $84 million and potentially 1512 seasonal jobs.
"The numbers are pretty sobering for me, particularly as the baseline season (2020) was centred on domestic visitation alone.
"I have not modelled a scenario of additional lost earnings for if the trans-Tasman bubble miraculously opens up in time for the ski season," he said.
The New Zealand ski industry had collaborated on a sustainable workforce strategy, outlining short-term needs and a long-term plan, including the urgent need to approve the travel of the skilled workers.
That strategy had been communicated with the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE), but SAANZ was still waiting to hear on the status of the "critical" workers.
"This is an urgent but solvable workforce issue, which is why I have sent this further appeal to the ministers on behalf of SAANZ.
"All NZ ski areas are currently in the recruitment phase, and will need to secure visas from Immigration NZ (INZ) for these workers as soon as possible so we can book managed isolation for early to mid-June.
"We’re not talking huge numbers of international workers— getting 100 highly-skilled staff across the border will enable Kiwi ski areas to operate."
The ski areas’ concerns were shared by Queenstown Lakes District Council, which is supporting the association in its endeavours.
Ms Legnavsky hoped the letter, along with talks with Tourism Minister Stuart Nash would result in ‘‘quick action’’ from MBIE and INZ.
"This is now urgent — these workers are sitting in limbo and our industry can’t afford to wait much longer.
"We need them in order to fully operate this winter, and our communities are relying on us to be able to bring visitors to spend in our regions.
"If we can get film crews, entertainers and sporting teams into NZ, surely the same could be done for an industry that is vital for recovery in their surrounding communities?"
