A Rotorua tourism operator says he will be relying on domestic tourism for his businesses to get up and running again following the shutdown caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
MDA Experiences' Takurua Mutu is encouraging Kiwis to explore New Zealand's backyard and support local businesses after the "devastating" blow from the virus outbreak and subsequent lockdown.
In Rotorua, 23 per cent of the city's workforce earn their living in tourism-related industries.
With cultural tourism and geysers on Māori-owned land, Rotorua is also a large and highly successful employer of Māori.
Mr Mutu said it wasn't just important, but it was vital for New Zealanders to support local tourism at a time where they're doing it tough.
"Without it you'll see this industry topple, so for the next two years we are relying on domestic tourism as an industry and we can't expect anything else to come about.
"It's vital that Kiwis get out there and explore our own backyard."
Mr Mutu operates Mountain Bike Rotorua, which 80 per cent of revenue comes from domestic tourism, however the biking business only makes up about 25 per cent of his overall revenue.
But with a focus on retaining staff, Mr Mutu said he was starting up an online retail business, Wheelies Stock Shop - from which he'll donate five per cent of gross revenue to charities.
"You talk about needing revenue, and the reality is we all have to pivot," he said.
"This business we're launching has basically been born to support our 60 staff."
"People keep talking about this rebuild of tourism and when I hear that I keep saying, you know, 'why do we keep talking about the rebuild of tourism? We should be talking about survival of it, and then we should be talking about the rebuild of business and how businesses operate in the future'."
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