Hospitality sector calls for visa changes to ease staff shortages
Nona Pelletier, Senior Business Reporter
nona.pelletier@rnz.co.nz
The post-Covid reset has not gone smoothly for the hospitality sector, with a choppy recovery for restaurants, bars, hotels and tourism.
Changes to the Accredited Employer Work Visa scheme, due to come into effect in stages from the end of the month, are expected to help ease short-term hospitality staff shortages.
The new Minister for Economic Growth Nicola Willis is also hinting at changes to visitor visa requirements to boost visitor numbers.
Industry representatives said changes to immigration demonstrated the government was listening.
However, change was needed to address a shortage of highly skilled hospitality workers to match New Zealand's high-priced tourism industry.
The gaps in the employment market were already affecting the cruise industry which was experiencing a sharp 20 percent fall in cruise visits this year, with a further 30 percent drop for next year's season.
The cruise industry would not see a return to growth under current conditions, with a lack of industry coordination making it difficult to offer a consistent level of service, Craig Harris, the managing director of booking operator ISS-Mckay, said.
The post-Covid industry had not returned to what it was, he said.
"The reset's been quite difficult," he said.
The hotel industry had not fully recovered from the Covid lockdowns, but a more flexible immigration policy could improve labour productivity, Hotel Council director James Doolan said.
"Ever since we closed borders as part of Covid, we've had shortages in the hospitality sector. And those shortages have arisen in both skilled positions but also at times in unskilled positions in certain parts of New Zealand, like Queenstown."
Some of the issues could be addressed by giving national hotel chains the flexibility to transfer staff to high demand areas - something they could not do under current immigration rules, Doolan said.
Hospitality NZ communications manager Sam MacKinnnon said the industry was working to fill the skills gap with a coordinated approach to recruitment and skills development, but that approach also relied on having a skilled resident workforce to guide the process.
"There's currently no hospitality roles on the green list, and wage thresholds and lack of New Zealand recognized qualifications make it hard for a hospitality worker to obtain points needed for skilled migrant visa."
In addition to low productivity, hospitality's revenue and earnings were under pressure.
The latest data from payments company Worldline showed the value of spending on hospitality fell 2.7 percent in 2024 from a year earlier.
The pain was acutely felt in cafes, restaurants and bars throughout New Zealand, Restaurant Association chief executive Marisa Bidois said.
Some businesses closed down over the summer, while others were barely hanging on.
"Being able to reinstate industry specific advisors within the immigration department would assist in helping to process, visas more quickly, that's sort of one of our main issues.
"Despite all that, there's a lot of optimism that remains, and many businesses are very hopeful that things will start to pick up. That was the mantra for last year - 'Survive 'til 25'."
The industry was hoping Louise Upston, the recently appointed minister responsible for tourism and hospitality, would be able to pick up where the former minister Matt Doocey left off, with a commitment to work on a longer-term strategy.
