Photo: RNZ / Nate McKinnon
Cook Islands tourism operators are struggling with an unusually tough off-season, with some worrying they will lose their local population as staff are put on reduced hours.
The low holiday season started in December and will last until the end of February.
The Government-subsidised flights from Los Angeles - which are no longer running - had previously brought in North American tourists keen to escape winter during the quiet period.
Caleb Fotheringham reports
Cook Islands Tourism Industry Council president Liana Scott said her accommodation, Muri Beach Club Hotel, was around 70 percent full in January 2019 and now is just half that.
"On the ground at present, it's pretty quiet, I would say in some instances it's tough for operators to break even," Scott said.
"I would imagine that a lot haven't caught up from having almost two years of no customers.
"The biggest thing we don't want to see is another wave of Cook Islanders and expatriate population leaving after just getting back to business, I think that's the biggest fear for businesses is losing staff again and going back to trying to get them back into the country," she said.
"The cost and headache of doing that sort of scenario is something that we're all trying to avoid as a priority."
Scott said she thinks there have been conversations with operators and banks around leniency with mortgage repayments.
She said the tourism industry had approached the government for support but was told the government was not there "to prop up businesses".
"They've got to watch their cash flow as well and they have indicated strongly that they will not be able to support in terms of wage subsidies and the like."
Photo: RNZ / Nate McKinnon
According to the Cook Islands statistics office, 2022 recorded about 120,000 visitors, about 70,000 less than pre-covid 2019.
Scott said the year started slowly but got really busy during high season, with people unable to fly into Rarotonga even if they were prepared to pay a premium.
Hawaiian Airlines will start flying into the Cook Islands once a week from Hawaii in May, and in June, Jetstar will start flying twice a week from Sydney. The flights are supported by a government subsidy.
Scott said there had already been interest from tourists for the Hawaiian Airlines flights and hoped it would bring in North American and European travellers.
She said it's been made clear by the government there would be no more flights for Los Angeles.
"So it's really important that Hawaiian Airlines puts the clicks on the map with North Americans."
In August last year, Cook Islands resumed flights from Tahiti that were available pre-pandemic. Scott said there was an opportunity for the leg to bring in passengers from France.