Major tourism operator Skyline Enterprises to slash half its workforce

Major New Zealand tourism operator Skyline Enterprises has announced it’s slashing half its workforce at the end of next month when the Government’s wage subsidy ends.

The company, whose portfolio includes the popular Queenstown gondolas, has cut 600 jobs across its various operations. 

“It's not pleasant being the one delivering the news and obviously if you're the one on the receiving end, it's devastating," Skyline Enterprises CEO Geoff McDonald said.

Other tourist spots have been hard-hit by the lockdown, too, including in Kaikōura, which was still reeling from the impact of the Kaikōura earthquake in 2016.

“It’s that build-up of crisis after crisis which is really having a toll on Kaikōura,” Whale Watch Kaikoura’s Kauahi Ngaora said.

"It will potentially affect up to 50 per cent of our local workforce that’s employed in tourism."

Tourism Industry Aotearoa’s Chris Roberts said the tourism industry is in survival mode amid the coronavirus pandemic.

"It's survival right now. There are literally hundreds of thousands of jobs at stake here and thousands of businesses, so we're all doing everything we can to help those businesses survive and we need government help," he said.

With around half of all tourism jobs at risk, getting New Zealanders to visit local attractions will be vital to renewing the industry.

“We can keep businesses alive, we can keep people in jobs, we can keep communities going,” Mr Roberts said.

Mr McDonald said the industry would benefit from Kiwis carrying out more regional and domestic air travel.

"If that's not included in Level 2, there's going to be a lot more pain for a lot longer for people here, and I think we will see many, many businesses fold and go under," Mr McDonald said.

Operators have since raised concerns about the wage subsidy running out, which Ms Ardern said is currently being looked at.

"I do encourage those working in tourism to start making those assessments of how dependent their businesses are on overseas travel because we will not have open borders for the rest of the world for a long time to come.”