More than 30 bars and restaurants shut their doors to customers in the tourism Mecca of Rotorua in protest at Government immigration policies and staffing concerns they say are being ignored.

Around 50 hospitality staff and business owners took to Eat St, the main dining and hospitality precinct in the tourism centre on Monday.

Hospitality NZ Bay of Plenty spokesperson Reg Hennessey says businesses are facing acute staffing shortages and are disappointed 'that our concerns directed to Government have fallen on deaf ears”.

'The Prime Minister says New Zealand is open for business, but today our businesses are not.”

He says that at present, most businesses are having to turn away customers due to staffing shortfalls.

'Most of us have debt because of Covid and received little support from Labour except for the wage subsidy, and in return they're not helping us to trade our way out of the red.”

Hennessey believes Rotorua alone is more than 1000 staff short, 'and the number is growing”.

He also says the recent Government announcement of immigration settings for chefs is 'too late for the summer and is largely unworkable for most of us”.

'We need urgent action and solutions now before Rotorua businesses are forced to close for good.”

Eat St business owner and strike organiser Ray Singh said he needed at least 18 extra staff, and existing staff were working as many as 80 hours a week.

'Rotorua is a tourist town, tourists need feeding, the Labout Government need to sort out the worker shortage for the hospitality sector, we need action, not excuses.”

Hennessey says Rotorua 'would come to a standstill without hospitality”.

National immigration spokesperson Erica Stanford also addressed the crowd, telling them 'hospitality is in crisis”.

'This is the immigration reset, how does it feel?”

She says the Government should have acted sooner to facilitate the entry into New Zealand of staff, instead of putting in place policies that created 'barrier after barrier” for the sector.

She also addresses Immigration Minister Michael Wood directly.

'Last week you said you were listening. . . they've had to close their doors to force you to listen.”

Rotorua National MP Todd McClay also addressed the crowd, describing it as 'a dark day for business owners in the town”.

'You have a group of people who have closed their doors today because they don't believe they're being listened to by Government,” he says.

He says Wood was in Rotorua a week earlier to launch the first New Zealand designed and made electric bus, but had not visited or spoken to anyone in the hospitality sector.

'You need to come here and engage with them,” he says.

'Unless they [staff] arrive quickly our restaurants and bars will close.”

Eat Street business owner and strike organiser Ray Singh says he expects to lose as much as $8000 due to the closures, but he feels it's the only way to get Government to listen.

He has staff working 80 hour weeks and enduring 'stressful days and sleepless nights”.

He says across his three businesses he needs as many as 18 additional staff, and that operators would organise further closures if they feel their concerns are not being listened too.

-Benn Bathgate/Stuff.