The Youth Hostel Association of New Zealand (YHA) says it has been left with no option but to permanently close the doors on its 11 managed hostels, including the YHA Wānaka on Brownston Street, on Monday December 15.

YHA New Zealand is a not-for-profit association that was established in 1932 in Canterbury.

The extended Auckland lockdown and no prospects of an international visitor market this summer has created market conditions that place YHA in an unsustainable financial position, the YHA said in a statement.

“This is a sad time for our staff, our members and our industry. YHA has been a cornerstone of youth travel in New Zealand for 89 years,” YHA general manager Simon Cartwright said.

“It has evolved with the fast moving changes of the industry and lead industry thinking both domestically and among the international network. YHA was looking forward to a bright future in 2019 having just opened a new hostel in Tekapo. Unfortunately, the Covid-19 pandemic has just gone on too long for us to be able to ride it out. Today is a sad day for tourism in New Zealand.”

YHA Wānaka currently has three staff who will be affected by the closure. Pre Covid up to ten staff were employed.

In late 2020 the YHA completed a restructure to take the organisation through to an expected recovery period over the 2021/22 summer period, while continuing to maximise its domestic revenue.

The organisation, traditionally servicing international youth visitors, doubled its domestic guest nights over the past 12 months as it reoriented towards more domestic groups and family stays. Unfortunately, the significant domestic growth has not been sufficient to offset the loss in international guest revenue, the YHA said.

The YHA national board and senior management have worked closely with YHA’s primary lender to ensure all prepaid bookings are fully refunded and staff entitlements are retained through the closure period.

“YHA staff have been incredible during extraordinary times,” Simon said. “It is an ending none of us wanted but we want to make sure we exit in a way which ensures our people are not left out of pocket.”

YHA has a network of 11 hostels it manages directly; YHA Auckland International, YHA Rotorua, YHA Wellington, YHA Christchurch, YHA Lake Tekapo, YHA Aoraki Mt Cook, Wanaka, YHA Queenstown Central, YHA Queenstown Lakefront, YHA Franz Josef and YHA Te Anau. All these hostels will close on December 15.

Twenty-three individually owned and operated associate properties will continue to operate as normal.

PHOTO: Wānaka App