April 18, 2021 • 3 mins
Queenstown's mayor predicts an influx of Australian visitors will bring a bumper ski season for the tourist town.
The first quarantine-free flight lands into Queenstown at 2.30pm Monday from Sydney after the trans-Tasman bubble officially opens at 11.59 Sunday night.
Mayor Jim Boult told the Weekend Collective there's been good bookings in hotels.
"Late April, May, early June are usually the quietest months of the year for us. We think we'll have a pretty good time over that time, but we're seriously excited about the ski season."
He believes young Aussies could provide some of the staffing shortfall this ski season, with many hotels and hospitality businesses scrambling to find staff now that the tourists are returning.
Boult says 5,500 migrant workers were a big part of the workforce before the borders closed.
"We think around 2,000 of them have left the district, that has left a big hole.
"But we're trying to attract young Aussie across to work in the ski season."
He says worker accommodation won't be an issue this year.
Air New Zealand is running 30 flights across the Tasman - carrying more than 5,000 people.
Qantas has scheduled 25 flights, and there are four from Jetstar.
LISTEN ABOVE
The first quarantine-free flight lands into Queenstown at 2.30pm Monday from Sydney after the trans-Tasman bubble officially opens at 11.59 Sunday night.
Mayor Jim Boult told the Weekend Collective there's been good bookings in hotels.
"Late April, May, early June are usually the quietest months of the year for us. We think we'll have a pretty good time over that time, but we're seriously excited about the ski season."
He believes young Aussies could provide some of the staffing shortfall this ski season, with many hotels and hospitality businesses scrambling to find staff now that the tourists are returning.
Boult says 5,500 migrant workers were a big part of the workforce before the borders closed.
"We think around 2,000 of them have left the district, that has left a big hole.
"But we're trying to attract young Aussie across to work in the ski season."
He says worker accommodation won't be an issue this year.
Air New Zealand is running 30 flights across the Tasman - carrying more than 5,000 people.
Qantas has scheduled 25 flights, and there are four from Jetstar.
LISTEN ABOVE
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Popular Podcasts
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations.
The Nikki Glaser Podcast
Every week comedian and infamous roaster Nikki Glaser provides a fun, fast-paced, and brutally honest look into current pop-culture and her own personal life.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.