Hotels Need 2,670 Additional Workers For Summer

New Zealand’s 360 hotels need 2,670 additional workers to operate at full capacity, according to estimates compiled by Hotel Council Aotearoa. The typical 100-room hotel in New Zealand has 7.5 staff vacancies, on average.

This is on top of shortages being experienced in other forms of accommodation, including motels, holiday parks and backpacker lodges.

Pre-COVID, 27,318 people were employed in New Zealand’s tourist accommodation sector, but that figure dropped by 54% in the first 12 months after border restrictions began, according to the government’s Tourism Satellite Account.

“Hotel teams have done an extraordinary job of keeping the lights on,” said James Doolan, Hotel Council Aotearoa Strategic Director. “Hotel leaders are deeply concerned about staff burnout and service failures. This isn’t about staffing levels for large events next year. We have a major problem now. Where are our workers for this summer?”

The worker shortage varies by region and between properties. Hotels that are physically isolated in destinations with low permanent populations are among the worst affected. Some hotels have reported operating at thirty percent below pre-COVID workforce levels.

In response to worker shortages, hotels have been forced to temporarily close restaurants, adjust room-cleaning schedules, stop offering room service or even limit the number of rooms sold on some nights of the week.

“These measures are heart-breaking for an industry still trying to earn its way out of trouble after the COVID pandemic, closed borders and lockdowns,” said Doolan.

Wages have increased substantially since pre-COVID and some hotel sector employers are offering assistance with accommodation, incentive bonuses and other benefits to attract candidates willing to move for work.

“We know other industries are also short of workers,” said Doolan, “But the tourist accommodation sector is fighting to get back on its feet after COVID. The New Zealand economy benefits if hotels can maximise earnings from international travellers, but workforce shortages are keeping the handbrake on.”

International tourism in New Zealand is technically an export industry, since Kiwi businesses sell goods and services to foreigners. Unlike other export industries, foreign consumers of “tourism product” pay GST on top of every purchase they make, meaning all New Zealanders lose out if the sector generates less revenue than it should.

Hotel Council Aotearoa has consistently called for dialogue with government on targeted solutions for the post-COVID tourism worker problem. In October 2021, well before New Zealand’s international borders reopened, Hotel Council Aotearoa wrote to the Minister of Finance and Minister of Tourism saying: "We repeat our previous warnings that there will be a damaging shortage of tourism and hospitality workers once border restrictions ease, which will hurt the pace of recovery.”

© Scoop Media