Hamiltonian Sherry Zhen has switched from guiding Chinese visitors to selling houses, closing her small tourism business for the foreseeable future.
February 3 marks the first anniversary of New Zealand closing its borders to tourists from China, and the days of hosting groups of Chinese Amway staff or small private tours of a Cambridge Alpaca farm are long gone for Zhen, who got her real estate licence in July.
Pre-pandemic, China was our second largest-tourism market after Australia and spending by 390,000 Chinese visitors in 2019 hit $1.7 billion.
Although some Chinese managed to get their holiday in before the border closure, and some opted to extend their stay, it’s estimated the loss in Chinese tourist spending over the past…