Latest / Best of Business / Marisa Bidois: Restaurant Association CEO explains why the hospitality sector is struggling

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Marisa Bidois: Restaurant Association CEO explains why the hospitality sector is struggling · Best of Business

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  Speaker 2: Yes, good to have you with us. Now around the country,
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  Speaker 2: we are losing some of our favorite and most iconic
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  Speaker 2: hospitality venues. This week, Auckland's SPQR announced liquidation and have
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  Speaker 2: closed their doors after twenty seven years of business. They
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  Speaker 2: are just one in a long line of closures as
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  Speaker 2: businesses battle rising costs and cash strapped consumers stay at home.
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  Speaker 2: But why is the hospitality industry still struggling so much?
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  Speaker 2: Restaurant Association CEO Marissa Bedoir is with me now. Good morning, Marissa,
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  Speaker 2: more than a hey, why are restaurants and hospitals struggling
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  Speaker 2: so much? Is it COVID? Was that where the damage
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  Speaker 2: was done? Or is it the cost of living crisis
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  Speaker 2: we're dealing with now and people staying at home?
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  Speaker 3: Look To be honest, it is a combination of mentioned.
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  Speaker 3: The last three years have been particularly challenging for the
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  Speaker 3: hospitality industry, and to be frank, we're still in a
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  Speaker 3: recovery position. You think about the impacts that COVID had
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  Speaker 3: on hospitality and then shortly after that, many of our
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  Speaker 3: businesses faced weather events and then we've battled with the
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  Speaker 3: cost of living crisis and a downturn of customers. So
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  Speaker 3: it really has been a perfect storm as far as
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  Speaker 3: impacts on our sector go.
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  Speaker 2: When a recession hits, no matter what industry you're in,
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  Speaker 2: we kind of feel that, you know, if you're in
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  Speaker 2: a good, solid position, you can ride it out. Isn't
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  Speaker 2: that simple for hospitality?
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  Speaker 3: Look, I think because many of our businesses did take
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  Speaker 3: out loans during COVID to survive some of those more
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  Speaker 3: difficult times, many have carried that debt through into these
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  Speaker 3: challenging sort of economic times now, so that has had
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  Speaker 3: an impact on our businesses as well.
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  Speaker 2: So many places around the country are being affected. But
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  Speaker 2: when institutions like SPQR in Auckland go into liquidation, it
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  Speaker 2: really hits home how bad the situation is. So what
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  Speaker 2: does our hospit both future look like.
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  Speaker 3: Well, that's a great question, you know, and as you said,
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  Speaker 3: it is absolutely tragic to see some of our iconic
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  Speaker 3: businesses closing. Places like SPQR have had such a huge impact,
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  Speaker 3: you know, within within our sector. Many of our leaders
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  Speaker 3: within the industry right now, you know, head jobs at
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  Speaker 3: SPQR so it really is. It really does affect the
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  Speaker 3: psyche of our industry. I think when we see those, yeah,
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  Speaker 3: iconic businesses close, but what does the future hold for hospitality. Look,
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  Speaker 3: I think there is light at the end of the tunnel.
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  Speaker 3: Our businesses. Many of our businesses are resilient, they're innovative,
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  Speaker 3: and they are working hard right now to you know,
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  Speaker 3: attract customers, to review the way they're doing their business,
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  Speaker 3: keeping eye on costs. So you know, there are a
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  Speaker 3: lot of things that businesses are doing right now to
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  Speaker 3: weather the storm.
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  Speaker 2: Does working from home have an impact? Do you think?
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  Speaker 1: Mersa?
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  Speaker 3: Absolutely, that's that's had a big impact on our industry.
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  Speaker 3: Just that customer behavioral shift has really impacted businesses, particularly
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  Speaker 3: in our cdds. For example, businesses that would rely on
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  Speaker 3: maybe a lunch trade from people grabbing you know, a
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  Speaker 3: bite to eat during their break, A lot of that
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  Speaker 3: has has really fallen away. So the afterwork strength thing
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  Speaker 3: as well. On a Friday, many businesses have reported that,
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  Speaker 3: you know, they were busier on Fridays, and many, especially
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  Speaker 3: in our city centers, have reported that that's changed and
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  Speaker 3: that really is due to that sort of that behavior
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  Speaker 3: shift and the working from home phenomenon that we've seen
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  Speaker 3: happen over the last few years.
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  Speaker 2: It might depend on where you are, but is this
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  Speaker 2: all sort of having an effect on New Zealand's tourism brand?
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  Speaker 2: Is it affecting tourism?
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  Speaker 3: Look, it's interesting that you say that because we have seen,
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  Speaker 3: you know, our visitor arrivals have flattened. So this is
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  Speaker 3: sort of a challenge coming at our industry, and the
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  Speaker 3: wider tourism industry as well, is basically dealing with a
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  Speaker 3: lower than usual visitors coming into the country. And this
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  Speaker 3: absolutely has an impact on our businesses.
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  Speaker 2: Any good news stories business is coming up with wise
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  Speaker 2: to deal with the challenges of winter and the cost
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  Speaker 2: of living.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah. Absolutely. Look, honestly, hospitality business owners are some of
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  Speaker 3: the most innovative and committed people I've ever met, and
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  Speaker 3: they are coming up with all sorts of different ways
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  Speaker 3: to weather the storms. I think some of the things
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  Speaker 3: that are going on right now, like I said, people
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  Speaker 3: are reviewing their marketing plans, They're reaching out to their
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  Speaker 3: local communities in some instances, and in fact, I was
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  Speaker 3: speaking to a member the other day. He said he'd
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  Speaker 3: been in hospitality for forty four years and this is
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  Speaker 3: some of the toughest times that he'd ever faced, and
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  Speaker 3: he can pose this email out to his loyal customers saying,
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  Speaker 3: you know, I'd love it if you could support me
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  Speaker 3: during these times. And he had this influx of people
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  Speaker 3: coming into his store to buy a coffee say hello.
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  Speaker 3: And those are the sorts of relationships, you know, that
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  Speaker 3: keep our businesses alive and hopeful for the future.
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  Speaker 2: Marissa, just very quickly, I see the Ministry for Priming
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  Speaker 2: Industries is putting a new living on food outlets for
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  Speaker 2: food safety compliance. How helpful is that right now?
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  Speaker 3: Look, we certainly put in a submission on this, and
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  Speaker 3: we didn't think the timing was great when these submissions
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  Speaker 3: were called for. You know, all of these things add
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  Speaker 3: up on the compliance costs are another pressure on our businesses,
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  Speaker 3: so the timing isn't great.
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  Speaker 2: Maurissa, thanks so much for your time this morning. Very
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  Speaker 2: much appreciated. That was Restaurant Association CEO Marissa Boudoir, and
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  Speaker 2: I would be keen to hear from you. If you
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  Speaker 2: are in the hospitality industry as well. You can text
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  Speaker 2: on ninety two ninety two.
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