NZ Māori Tourism’s Tyson-Nathan: 17k job losses ‘devastating’

13th May 2020 By Staff Reporter | news@tourismticker.com | @tourismticker

More than 17,000 Māori employees working across the tourism sector have lost their jobs due to Covid-19, including up to 1000 working for Māori tourism operators, says New Zealand Māori Tourism.

NZ Māori Tourism chief executive Pania Tyson-Nathan told the Epidemic Response Committee yesterday the losses were devastating.

Pania Tyson-Nathan presenting to the Epidemic Response Committee

“Hospitality is a huge employer of Māori and Pacific Islanders, and the same with tourism. So, I’m not just talking Māori tourism businesses employing Māori, I’m talking about right across the sector,” she said.

“Māori who have lost jobs within the Māori tourism sector is, at this point, still under 1000. Māori who have lost jobs across the tourism sector as a whole could be anything between 17,000 to 30,000. We’ve got about 60,000 Māori working in tourism across the board, so it’s a significant chunk.”

Tyson-Nathan said Māori tourism operators employed around 14,000 people, and the pressures of lockdown meant the industry had “already started to see the impact straight away” with some businesses going into hibernation.

She said up to 40% of Māori tourism businesses had continuity insurance, which covered – in some cases – the disruption caused by pandemics.

However, 40% of businesses targeted an international market, which was now out of reach under current border restrictions.

Tyson-Nathan added that Māori tourism operators were now re-purposing their businesses for a domestic market, and a ‘South Pacific bubble’ would help the sector.

Tourism minister Kelvin Davis told the ERC that tourism was a way New Zealanders could learn more about te ao Māori.

“One of the things we’ve noticed is that New Zealanders’ desire to learn more about Māori culture is growing and so as we move into the recovery stage, and New Zealanders will really only be able to travel around New Zealand, there are massive opportunities for Māori in tourism to be able to showcase our culture and our history,” he said.

Davis confirmed to the ERC that a response and recovery package for the tourism industry would be included in Budget 2020.