Aitutaki tourism operators have told the Government the financial support they have received is barely enough and are asking for $2 million more to prop up business on the island as Covid-19 struggles continue.

About 20 representatives from several Aitutaki resorts met on Thursday evening to share concerns and discuss options.

Meeting chairman and Tamanu Beach Resort general manager Nick Henry, who alongside Turama Pacific marketing manager Stephen Doherty, addressed Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown with concerns on Thursday last week.

They said Aitutaki is struggling, and that struggle had been quantified by way of 45 businesses asking for $2 million in grants.

“We’ve all received economic recovery support and the wage subsidy. However, my point is that the categories they have for our business where our turnover is over $3 million and less than $5 million,” Nick Henry said.

“For a business our size we would need $100,000 to $150,000 to get a kickstart.            

“We’ve had two business grants of $10,000.” 

Henry said he was “very grateful” for $10,000 “if we are talking about an economic recovery, but it doesn’t do anything for an operation our size”.

“The recovery programme doesn’t go far enough to achieve recovery, the economic recovery without a cash injection will take a lot longer.

“At the end of the day we want to contribute but we need a contribution from Government to get on our feet.”  

He said he had earlier shared his concerns with the Cook Islands Tourism chief executive Halatoa Fua.

“We have had a number of responses from him, he said he would circulate it to heads of ministries.

“The economic recovery programme is not working in Aitutaki,” Henry said.

“The purpose of the visit was to alert the Prime Minister and his heads of ministries that Aitutaki is struggling.

“We are grateful for the support we have received but we didn’t want them to think they are sitting in their offices in Rarotonga doing a great job.”

Henry said the Prime Minister wasn’t in a position to give him an exact answer.

“He was going to pass it on to the Secretary of Finance (Garth Henderson), the action was for the Prime Minister to pass it on to the heads of ministries; if they expect us to recover, they need to do more.”

Henry said there were also concerns the majority of Aitutaki’s tourism market was in the Northern Hemisphere.

“The Kiwi market is only 20 per cent.

“We now have to tap into the high-end New Zealand visitor when they normally go for long haul vacations.

“Rarotonga has always done ok and I think Rarotonga will do ok.

“For us, 25,000 Kiwis a year would be ok, 30,000 plus and we would be doing well.”