Covid 19 coronavirus: Chatham Islands’ big travel and tourism boost

Covid-19 is behind a surprising windfall in the Chatham Islands, quickly becoming the destination of choice as Kiwis with lockdown fever search for a new place to visit.

Tourism has been booming on the main island of Chatham, normally dies during winter and shoulder periods. But the Kiwis, knowing they won’t be traveling abroad anytime soon, are booking trips to the remote archipelago in all seasons.

Tour operators on the island reported a series of inquiries and reservations when the country emerged from the blockade in June. And with Auckland now out of level 3, those inquiries have increased again.

The increased number of visitors has been an unexpected advantage for Air Chathams which, like all airlines, took a hit from Covid. The airline, which is based in Auckland, took over several of the domestic routes abandoned by Air New Zealand in 2015, but was unable to fly them during the shutdown.

That came in the immediate aftermath of China’s live food markets closed in January, a move that abruptly halted the lucrative export of live crayfish. It was Air Chathams that transported the island’s seafood – crays, kina, paua, hapuka and blue cod – to Wellington and Auckland to connect with international flights to satisfy the Asian market.

The airline’s chief operating officer, Duane Emeny, said the surge in visitor numbers helped during the difficult months after the export market disappeared. Additionally, doing cargo runs as an essential service during the lockdown helped keep the airline in the game, he said.

The shutdown of China’s markets could not have come at a worse time for Chatham’s fishing industry, which accounts for 75 percent of the island’s economy.

The Chinese New Year, which fell on January 25 this year, is typically a boom time, as the Asian market is catching up with the lucky red lobster catch. About 390 tonnes of live crayfish are exported each year, and local processing factories fetch a “beach price” of between $ 65 and $ 85 a kilo, generating between $ 25.3 million and $ 33, 1 million. Another 600 tonnes of wet fish (blue cod and hapuka) are selling for $ 25 a kilo, generating a profit of 15 million for the island.

“That cost us a terrible amount in February, when it was stopped and the island was badly damaged as well,” Emeny said. “So it’s good to see a new (tourism) market opening up. It’s one of the nice little surprises you get out of all the not-so-nice ones.”

Data from Seafood New Zealand shows that the country’s exports were very low in the first half of 2020. Last year New Zealand exported 2,650 tonnes of rock lobster, also known as crawfish, worth $ 300 million . In comparison, only 874 tonnes of lobster were exported worth 89 million dollars, 32% less in volume and 41% in value.

Last year 597 tons of paua were exported for a value of 34.7 million dollars, but in the first half of this year only 69 tons were exported, worth 4.4 million dollars.

Moana New Zealand, who runs the Aotearoa Fisheries factory in Waitangi on Chatham Island, moved quickly to come up with a plan when exports stopped.

The company’s communications manager, Michelle Cherrington, said existing catches were frozen and sold in New Zealand, but at a considerably lower price than the lucrative live market. Some frozen crayfish tails were sold to the US market.

And they came up with Plan B, launching a Grab One offering of frozen blue cod, crab tail and pots of minced paua to the North Island, a deal that quickly sold out.

“People craved seafood [during lockdown]”Cherrington said.

Private fisheries like Chatham Island Food Co boosted online fish sales to New Zealanders to help fill the export gap.

Transporting these seafood products across the country proved to be a lifesaver for Air Chathams. Seen as an essential service, the airline arranged charter flights to help South Island fishing companies, frustrated by the lack of connecting domestic flights, meet international cargo flights departing from Auckland.

Emeny said the government’s aviation support package helped keep the airline operational. It meant that the Air Chathams Convairs were ready to go within 24 hours of receiving the first call to collect shellfish.

“We were able to go to Manapouri to look for crayfish.”

Emeny, a pilot, was so impressed with the way the Ministry of Transportation handled the details of aviation during the shutdown that he and his father Craig, the company’s chief executive, set out to meet personally with some of the officials. later in Wellington.

One of the officials revealed that, prior to Covid, he had been working on legislation for electric vehicles. “I had no idea about aviation. These guys had to learn everything overnight and they did a good job, I must say,” Emeny said.

Although the seafood export market is on the mend, it looks like tourism will be an added bonus for the Chathams. Located in the Pacific Ocean, about 800 km east of the South Island, next stop, Chile, the locals laugh that many kiwis are not even sure where it is.

But now they are dedicated to finding out. The island’s flagship accommodation, the Chatham Hotel, is already booked for the summer and next winter, with bookings running through spring 2021 and summer 2022.

In October, Air Chathams will add its 68-seat ATR-72 500 aircraft to its fleet of aging Convairs passengers to accommodate more numbers. The plane, bought from Air New Zealand last year, has been used as a charter plane for wealthy Americans, a sector that has since disappeared.

The government announced a $ 36 million project to upgrade and expand the small Tuuta airport last month, a move that means Air Chathams may eventually introduce Boeing 737s, reducing travel time and increasing cargo and passenger capacities.

Chatham Mayor Monique Croon said the number of visitors to the island was steadily increasing.

“It’s OE’s big trip without going abroad. You don’t need a passport.”

Auckland’s return to level 3 had an immediate impact, he said, but as the region had returned to level 2, reserves had been pouring in.

“It shows how important the Auckland market is to us.”

Croon’s family arrived from Auckland in the mid-1970s with a plan to live there for a year. They never left. Her father was fortunate to secure one of the first fishing quotas and used the proceeds to establish lodging on the island.

Croon’s sister Toni now runs the family’s tourism business with her brother-in-law Floyd Prendeville, based at the Chatham Hotel on Waitangi Beach, the main settlement on the island.

Francesca Bonventre, a booking and marketing manager for the Hotel Chatham group, which runs three-quarters of the accommodation on the island, said Covid had changed the game. The amount of inquiries from travel agents after the closing had been “incredible.”

Bonventre has to reject the reservations, but believes that some of the island’s 650 residents, used to depending on fishing and agriculture, will start converting existing buildings into accommodation and developing activities for tourists.

She is one example, expanding her freeze-dried honey business on the Chatham Islands to a place where tourists can visit to observe bees and learn about endemic plants.

And his partner, Kaai Silbery, who used to be the second chef at Auckland’s Soul Bar, has worked hard to develop menus at the Chatham Hotel using fresh local produce and seafood, and spreading the message to other New Zealand chefs.

“That [Covid] It has finally put us on the map. We expect a boom in tourism. “