WWW.LWB.CO.NZ
•
BUY
•
ACCOMMODATION
•
SELL
•
INFORMATION
•
JOBS
•
No 839
FIRST ON THE STREET
22nd Feb - 28th Feb
LAKES WEEKLY BULLETIN
JO
BS
114 IN SI
D
INFO@QMG.CO.NZ
E
Our tolerance is over
As we enter our third year of the pandemic you can feel that the mood of the nation, indeed the mood locally, has shifted. Away from fear of contracting a coronavirus, to a new fear, fear of isolation and its twin brother business interruption. If you haven’t pulled up the drawbridge, closed the curtains and sat on the couch binge watching Netflix of late, then you, like me, have probably lost count of how many times you have been a casual contact. Unless of course, you are a close contact (or have tested positive) and are on the couch watching Netflix. In the past week we have seen the shambles that is our current complicated COVID management system of “if this, then that” play out for our businesses. Any system that relies on interpretation by individuals is one that is inherently flawed, and you can see the impacts first-hand around town with closed stores and restaurants. Every business in Queenstown has taken its obligation to protect public health seriously. For many businesses this has come at huge cost both personally and financially. Every time to Government has raised hopes that borders will re-open, that we can re-connect with friends and loved ones and return to profitability, these hopes have been dashed. They were bitter pills to swallow but made slightly more tolerable by knowing that we were saving lives and there was at least some financial support available.
DQ have launched their latest marketing campaign focusing on the remarkable people behind local businesses including Zoe, Jeannie and her son, Jed from the Fork and Tap in Arrowtown
That tolerance is now well and truly gone. Omicron is not the foe that previous versions were. We are highly vaccinated and as it rips through New Zealand, we aren’t facing the “big sick” but the “big absence”. Once again, hospitality, accommodation, activities and events are at the pointy end of this epidemic, with isolation requirements meaning otherwise healthy people are having to stay home and businesses close. Business leaders from across the ditch are imploring New Zealand’s Government to learn from their experience. Do not apply the same rules to Omicron as you did to Delta otherwise business will grind to a halt. Classifying some businesses as critical and allowing a test to return to work scheme for those alone is missing the point. All businesses are critical. Our hospitals are not overwhelmed, we all know someone who has had COVID now and the fear of getting sick has been replaced by the fear of isolating and losing your business. As Omicron runs through New Zealand in the next couple of months, the logic for border restrictions falls over. We can do our best to navigate this sea of confusion one last time, but only with financial support and only with knowing that come winter we can reconnect, leaving isolation a distant memory. Ruth Stokes – CEO Queenstown Chamber of Commerce
Remarkables Park The bottle store with something more
OPEN 7 DAYS: 9am - Late
Corner Tex Smith Lane & Hawthorne Drive, Frankton www.superliquor.co.nz | 03 442 9801 | info@slremarkables.co.nz
CHECK OUT AND REGISTER AT letstalk.qldc.govt.nz
Want to make sure your voice is heard on decisions that matter to you?
HAVE YOUR SAY From 21 March-24 April
QLDC Annual Plan
Climate & Biodiversity Action Plan