Auckland businesses say a voucher scheme aimed to get locals to explore their own backyard has been a lifeline after lockdown.
Auckland Zoo. File photo Photo: Facebook / Auckland Zoo
The government-funded $9 million Explore Tāmaki Makaurau scheme kicked off late last year offering 100,000 vouchers to tourist attractions in the region.
People who applied went into a draw. There were roughly 11,000 vouchers left and a bonus draw on Tuesday.
Paradice Entertainment offers ice skating, mini golf, escape rooms and laser tag, and was closed with no income during Auckland's lockdowns.
Now they face a 100-person limit under the red traffic light.
But Paradice Entertainment managing director Chris Blong said the voucher system was helping.
"It's been a fair proportion of the amount of people that have come through, so I think rather than having a big, big drop off with this Omicron outbreak, it's really helped us reach those 100 limits.
"It's been a bit of a lifesaver in a way over the last few months."
It had been great for word of mouth and to encourage new people to the business, Blong said.
So far, more than $7m has been injected into Auckland tourism operators and more than 225,000 Aucklanders registered for the scheme.
They signed up for a chance to receive either a $100 family voucher or a $50 individual voucher to cover or contribute towards the costs for eligible activities and attractions on Bookme.
Auckland nurse Laura Vui was busy preparing for her sister's wedding day when she got the email saying she had won a family voucher.
She took her young family to Butterfly Creek - a family attraction touting salt water crocodiles, a Butterfly House and petting zoo.
It wasn't something that had been on her to do list.
"I hadn't been before and I'd never really thought about it to be honest, and it was actually really cool.
"There was so much variety, much more than I thought there was and there was a petting zoo which was really great for my 18-month-old. He really loved that. It was really cool, I would definitely go again."
With the leftover money, the trio took a trip to Kelly Tarlton's Sea Life Aquarium.
"Super grateful that we got a voucher and were able to do these things. It really helped us to get back out in the community and have some fun."
Weta Workshop Unleashed operations manager Sam Holdich said the timing was impeccable during a slow summer.
The majority of their recent guests were due to the voucher programme.
"Without that support, it would have been a very, very challenging period, and it's still not amazing but we are so grateful for it to eventuate and for it to be so popular."
It allowed them to hold onto their staff and set them up ahead of international tourists returning, he said.
They were feeling more confident about the future, Holdich said.
"It essentially assisted us to ride out the worst of and the end - we hope - of this pandemic and the effect that it's had on the tourism industry.
"Now that we can look ahead and the borders are opening, it's come at the perfect time."
Auckland Unlimited was running the programme, which was part of the government's $37.5m Reactivating Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland Support Package.
Its investment and industry director, Pam Ford, said it has given businesses some hope and a financial boost while giving locals some fun experiences.
"This programme is really what Auckland needed at the time when businesses were doing it super tough and looking at a summer that was really going to be make or break for many of them."
It has extended the scheme's end date so people can make their bookings through to the end of June.
Voucher redemption had been pretty consistent across the four prize draws, she said.
"So we have 11,000 vouchers left from the previous four draws and we want to see as many of those 100,000 vouchers as possible used by whānau and friends to enjoy the experiences and for as much of this funding to get to the tourism businesses."
Aucklanders would be contacted on Tuesday if they successfully nabbed a voucher in the bonus draw.