Tourism is a significant employer of Waikato people. From tour guides and travel agents to event planners and people in supporting sectors such as hospitality and accommodation, thousands across our region make a living from visitors coming to experience Waikato’s magic.
Nicola Greenwell
This employment contribution, and the uptick in visitors we’ve seen over the past year, is a bright light amidst the gloomy economic news we’re seeing about challenges faced by other key industries and the state of the government’s books.
Many of us felt the impact of the recent pandemic – reduction of operating hours, services, and staff. The impact of this sudden downturn – albeit temporary – had a profound impact on the vibrancy and livelihood of our town centres.
Tourism was New Zealand’s largest export earner in 2020, before travel restrictions were introduced, delivering $41.9 billion to the country and directly employing eight per cent of Aotearoa’s workforce – 225,384 people. At that point the industry also indirectly employed an additional 158,802 people (representing an additional 5.6 per cent of the workforce), according to Statistics NZ’s Tourism Satellite Account for the year ended March 2020.
We aren’t back to 2020 employment levels just yet, but tourism has had a strong year, and the numbers are heading in the right direction.
Hobbiton Movie Set. Photo: Shaun Jeffers
There were at least 11,000 people directly employed in tourism in Waikato before the pandemic, and that number is already eclipsed, with 12,120 people now employed in tourism. The ripple effect of tourism is multifaceted and plays a crucial role shaping communities and sustaining support services such as mechanics, marketing agencies, local food producers and business services.
The challenge many operators are grappling with is similar to that faced by many other businesses in industries experiencing growth. They need people.
It is critical that industry, councils, and government all recognise the opportunity and pull together to foster a strong pipeline of work, as well as to promote tourism careers to the next generation.
We need to dispel the myth that tourism is a low-income profession, or a temporary job on the path to something else. It only takes a chat with an event manager, a yarn with a tourism operator or a conversation with one of the many forward thinking entrepreneurs who have created their own businesses to see how far off the mark that perception is.
While some in our industry do get their foot in the door as customer service staff or tour guides – an exciting career in its own right – many go on to become team leaders, managers and industry specialists.
As visitors return to our country and tourism resumes its place at the top of the GDP ladder, more people will be needed to service the industry. Rather than taking the foot off the pedal, now is the time for industry, councils and governments to seize the opportunity and throw their support in behind growing tourism across New Zealand and here in the mighty Waikato.
Native Bush Walk, Pirongia.
