Kia ora koutou, my name is Quinton Hall and I am the Kaihautū o Te Pou Tāpoi o Ngāi Tahu/ Ngāi Tahu Tourism (NTT) CE. We are about to head into our busy season and need help to find some amazing people to join us this summer.
We operate some of the most iconic experiences in Aotearoa which include Dart River Jet, Hollyford Track, Guided Walks NZ, Franz Josef Glacier Guides and Hot Pools, Rainbow Springs, Agrodome, Shotover Jet and Hukafalls Jet.
Staffing and recruitment is an on-going challenge for us, not only because of the number of experiences we operate but also because the tourism industry is highly seasonal.
The majority of visitors to New Zealand arrive between October and April so we need fewer people in the quieter winter months when there are fewer tourists around; but then we need to rapidly expand our teams during summer.
This means that from September we are typically looking for relatively large numbers of seasonal and part-time staff. We provide mahi to over 280 people year round which grows to over 350 in the summer months. Sometimes we have to advertise the same role several times a year due to visa or travel constraints of the people we need (often language speakers).
One of the other challenges we face is that our attractions are in rural, sometimes remote locations where accommodation can be hard to find – this often makes it even harder to attract people. In Franz Josef, probably our most remote location, we provide accommodation for some of our team to make things easier for them.
Another challenge is that people tend to perceive roles within the tourism industry to be casual work with limited prospects for the longer-term; however, while some of our roles are short-term or temporary, there are often opportunities to progress.
We also require a relatively high degree of skill in a number of our roles, for example jet boat drivers and mechanics across our jet boat operations (Shotover, Dart and Hukafalls); glacier guides at Franz Josef and wildlife trainers at Rainbow Springs. All of these roles are specialised and need a significant amount of training, which requires investment and time fromNgāi Tahu Tourism.
We always try to retain or attract back anyone we have trained for specialised roles. For instance, Kahurangi Wilson-Mahuika (Makaawhio) is returning for his third season at the Hollyford Track this year and is now a senior guide. He was one of the first young people to be nominated to join the annual hīkoi into the Hollyford Valley back in 2012. He was then employed as a guide and this year has progressed to his senior role.
Where we can, we move people between businesses in order to help us retain to good people. For example, the recent acquisition of Guided Walks New Zealand/NZ Snow Shoe will help us retain key Hollyford guiding staff through the winter months.
We are now gearing-up for the busy period and would like to alert you to the permanent, seasonal and casual mahi opportunities available through the following channels:
- Our careers site: workforus.nttourism.co.nz
- www.seek.co.nz
- www.trademe.co.nz
- www.mahi.co.nz
- Papatipu Rūnaka contacts via [email protected]
If you or a member of your whānau are interested in applying to work with us, the best way is to register for job alerts on the Ngāi Tahu Tourism careers website (workforus.nttourism.co.nz) and click on ‘Register for job alerts.’
