Caught in the lockdown: Adriane Besse's year as a backpacker in New Zealand

Adriane Besse could become one of New Zealand’s best advocates for international tourism, priming the industry for when our border restrictions are finally lifted.

In the past year, the working holiday traveller has seen more of our country than probably most Kiwis would in a lifetime.

In June, she’ll return home to the south-west of France where hopefully her adventures here will inspire other travellers to put New Zealand on their must-see list for the future.

Tourism groups said Besse was the model youth traveller and a research project over the next year would aim to nail down the lifetime value of youth travellers to New Zealand.

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It has been just over a year since the 26-year-old communications specialist arrived in Auckland, a month before the Government introduced the Covid-19 alert levels.

She bought a campervan with plans to tour the country but alert level four curtailed her plans.

At the time, Stuff reported Besse had just a few days to find somewhere to park up for the month-long, level four spell.

Through the French Embassy she made contact with Katy Vaurabourg-Fisher who was offering to help backpackers find a safe place to sit out lockdown.

Vaurabourg-Fisher, who grew up in France too, took in Besse at her Cambridge family home, where she worked to help find another 24 people a place to stay during the alert level.

In total, she had more than 50 travellers ask for help as the country moved into its first national lockdown.

“I was very lucky to be able to stay with the family in Cambridge ... and I hope to see them all before I return home,” Besse said, reflecting on the past year.

When the alert levels lowered, Besse was on the road visiting Rotorua, Taupō, Tongariro, East Cape and Wellington.

There was a three-month stint working as an au pair in New Plymouth before moving on to the South Island, visiting Golden Bay, Marlborough Sounds, Tasman and down to Kaikōura, Christchurch, Dunedin, Invercargill and the West Coast.

Aoraki-Mount Cook was one of her favourite places, along with Franz Josef Glacier and Fox Glacier.

“It was just an amazing experience to see those glaciers but also sad to think that one day they might be gone.”

Besse took advantage of the lower number of tourists in New Zealand during the later stages of 2020.

“Normally I understand some of the places I visited would be overcrowded or it would have been hard to make bookings for places to stay.

“I met a lot of local people who were out on holiday visiting parts of the country for the first time, places where normally they had been unable to get to because of the crowds.

“So in a way, Covid opened up New Zealand to many people already living here.”

Along the way Besse played her part in keeping New Zealand’s horticultural industry rolling during the alert level months.

She worked in a packhouse in the Bay of Plenty during the winter and worked in orchards in the South Island, pruning, thinning, picking apricots, plums and cherries during the summer.

She travelled the North Island by herself but was reunited with another French national she met when she arrived in Auckland. The pair worked and travelled the South Island together.

Besse took up the opportunity to extend her holiday visa by six months and recently returned to New Plymouth to look for a job for the final stretch of her time in New Zealand.

“Everyone would agree we have been super lucky to have been in New Zealand during the past year. When I look at France, people there are still in lockdown or curfews.

“I did think about returning home last year, after the level four lockdown, but I’ve been much safer here because of the way New Zealand reacted so quickly to the pandemic.

“People had respect for the rules and thought of others, not themselves.”

Backpacker Youth Adventure Tourism Association Chairman Chris Sperring said Besse was the model youth traveller New Zealand needed to help the tourism market bounce back.

“She is a typical youth traveller who gets off the beaten track, visits smaller communities and contributes to those communities.”

The association was leading a research project to define the lifetime contribution of youth travellers to New Zealand.

“During Covid we found we didn’t have good data and insight around the value of the youth sector, not just financially but also their social contribution.”

Youth travellers tended to spend the longest amount of time visiting the country and actively promoted their travel experiences online.

“After they leave our shores, the assumption we have is that may buy New Zealand products.

“They come back after a few years with family and friends, and come back again to work in a profession and maybe settle down and live here.”

Sperring said the research project would put those assumptions to the test and he hoped to have the results in about a year.

“It’s quite an ambitious project to estimate what the lifetime model looks life but when we’ve completed the work, we’ll be able to present it to MBIE and the Government.”

Figures from Statistics New Zealand showed there were between 240,000 to 260,000 international visitors in the country just before lockdown, mid-March 2020.

That dropped to between 135,000 to 155,000 during May 2020.

Hamilton and Waikato Tourism Chief Executive Jason Dawson said New Zealand had tackled Covid-19 well and it was seen as a safe, secure, desirable country to visit when international borders open.

“International travellers who have experienced our country over the past 12 months are also adding the value of their experience to our global reputation as well.”

Tourism New Zealand General Manager International Gregg Wafelbakker said word of mouth was an important factor in attracting visitors to New Zealand.

“People sharing their experiences with their friends and families whether that’s on social media or in-person is advocacy for New Zealand at its best.”