Emergency housing crisis damaging Rotorua's tourism reputation, businesses say

Before the pandemic, Rotorua attracted more than three million visitors a year. File photo. Photo: 123rf

Rotorua businesses are calling for the government to intervene in emergency housing as the iconic destination prepares for an influx of summer tourists.

An investigation by TVNZ's Sunday programme has raised serious concerns about the treatment and well-being of tenants living in motels and hotels for emergency housing.

Businesses said the lack of action to address emergency housing conditions and safety concerns was causing issues for vulnerable people, residents and tourists, and it was impacting Rotorua's reputation.

Gregg Brown owns Capers Cafe and Store, and The Pig and Whistle, and said vulnerable people should not be living in squalor.

He has been meeting with other residents to figure out how the emergency housing issues could be resolved.

"I'm really disappointed that we've got to this stage. There are lots of emotional people out there, disappointed that the city's got to the state that it is in."

He was ok with the use of motels as emergency accommodation, but didn't believe they should be mixed use, catering for tourists and emergency housing clients at the same time.

Brown was optimistic about visitors returning in droves over summer, but wasn't sure how the city would be able to accommodate a lot more people.

He wanted the government to take ownership of the issue before the situation got worse.

"How do you fix a reputation when the issue hasn't been resolved? If we fix our reputation and give people a false perception of what's going on here, then that's not good for the tourism sector.

"We actually need to first solve the issue around motels and then I think we can start to say Rotorua is moving back to the jewel it once was in tourism."

Pre-Covid the city attracted more than three million visitors per year, according to the attractions and activities monitor in October 2018.

Rotorua Rafting and Rotorua Zipline owner Sam Sutton said businesses like his relied on tourists staying a few days and trying different activities.

With close to 50 accommodation providers being used for emergency housing in Rotorua, he was worried tourists would look elsewhere if there wasn't enough accommodation.

Especially if word-of-mouth about the town wasn't good.

"Travellers are wary about what they're hearing and if the negative publicity for Rotorua is actually detrimental to the survival of many different whānau within our small but pretty amazing town," Sutton said.

The clock was ticking down towards the first summer with international visitors in years.

"We're running out of time really to fix the situation for this summer realistically."

But there didn't appear to be any quick fixes on the horizon.

"We can't actually find accommodation to house our staff, let alone to find housing for the homeless so not too sure how we're going to get on there."

Rotorua's marketing and economic development body has been raising concerns about emergency housing with the government for months.

RotoruaNZ chief Andrew Wilson said the emergency housing situation was causing issues, but it didn't define the city as a destination.

"Part of the solution will be how do we get some of these motels back in to the tourism market.

"We're certainly offering to assist motels where they make a decision to maybe revert to tourism and we'll look at what we can wrap around to make sure that they're ... really fit and ready to host visitors."

Housing minister Megan Woods says motel accomodation is unlikely to attract "high value" tourists. File photo. Photo: Mark Mitchell / NZME

RotoruaNZ had registered strong interest from international visitors for the upcoming summer, he said.

One of Wilson's biggest concerns were motels that hosted tourists, emergency housing and long-term tenants at the same time.

"They (the government) could actually put a stop to mixed-model motels. They're paying the bills, there's no reason they can't bring an end to that.

"We do need to see some kind of date ... or some kind of sinking lid that actually means that there's a plan in place that brings this kind of scenario to an end."

Housing Minister Megan Woods said a government taskforce was working with the local council to work out how to reduce and ultimately stop mixed-model motels.

"Since April, there has been a decrease of 55 whānau receiving emergency housing benefits in the Rotorua region with some people moving into public housing," she said.

In response to tourism operators' concerns about a lack of accommodation, she said it was a commercial decision for moteliers to make.

"The kind of accommodation we're talking about, at the two and three star end, is not typically what high value tourists choose.

Woods said more public houses were being built, infrastructure was being funded to allow for more houses, and Rotorua was being targeted as a priority area to address the emergency housing issues in the city.

"We have already added 210 public homes in Rotorua, while Kāinga Ora, Community Housing Providers and iwi have nearly public 300 homes under construction or well advanced through the planning stage, with 272 of those currently on track for delivery in June 2024.

"In the meantime, the new model where motels are directly contracted by government, with dedicated accommodation for family groups and wrap-around services, is working well.

"Over 180 contracted emergency housing whānau have been supported into other accommodation including private rentals, Transitional and Public Housing since 1 July 2021."