At 9am on Saturday, Patrick Perkins, who owns two tourist jet boats in Wanaka, was still in business.

By lunchtime, after he had heard Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern's wartime-type briefing, he had decided to close down his 4-year-old operation.

"It is getting pretty scary. It's catastrophic," the jet boat skipper, who has spent most of his life working on the Clutha River, said.

ALDEN WILLIAMS/STUFF Go Jets Wanaka owner Patrick Perkins is high and dry.

"We decided to pull the plug and not take any risks. We want to be seen to be doing the right thing. We're hearing some tourists are not self-isolating."

The closure means some already booked trips on the jet boats will be cancelled but Perkins said business had dwindled to "dribs and drabs" anyway. Normally his only quiet month was May.

"We might be able to ride it out but the scary thing is how long it's going to go on for."

ALDEN WILLIAMS/STUFF Tourists wanting a shot of That Wanaka Tree have plenty of room.

Wanaka's lakefront main street was far from deserted on Saturday, but business owners said it was already quieter than usual with a lot worse to come. A sign of the times was a cleaner wearing a mask disinfecting a litter bin.

By the famous willow in Lake Wanaka known as "That Wanaka Tree", a group of eight Malaysian tourists was happily posing for selfies with a flat calm lake and sun streaming through morning cloud providing a spectacular backdrop. The carpark at Glendu Bay still sported a number of camper vans and rental cars.

General manager of Lake Wanaka Tourism James Helmore said the number of people in town could be misleading. It would normally be much busier and many tourists were packing in a last few things before leaving.

ALDEN WILLIAMS/STUFF Go Jets owner Patrick Perkins has shut up shop in Wanaka. Doug, the lab, is not too worried about the situation.

"No-one is sugar coating this. It's the biggest shock to New Zealand since World War II. Without international tourism it's going to get ugly."

Tourism, he said, was the main driver of the Wanaka regional economy. Visitors spent about $600 million in the area each year and kept a huge number of ancillary businesses going.

About 20 per cent of Wanaka residents provided some sort Airbnb service to help pay their mortgages so it was hard to find anyone not affected.

"The mood is pretty sombre. Businesses are laying off staff and some are closing even if just to avoid the risks posed by tourists who have not self isolated.

ALDEN WILLIAMS/STUFF Message for self-isolaters wanting to eat at Kai Whaka Pai Cafe in Wanaka.

"People are going to struggle with their mortgages and some even to keep a roof over their heads. It's pretty dark."

The tourist information centre had introduced new protocols this week and on the first day staff had "caught" a tourist who had not self isolated, he said. The Ministry of Health was alerted.

The Government's wage subsidy would help businesses survive, adapt to the new reality and get "battle ready", he said but more help would be needed.

ALDEN WILLIAMS/STUFF General manager of Lake Wanaka Tourism, James Helmore, is watching his industry disintegrate.

Domestic tourism made up about 40 per cent of visitors to Wanaka and Helmore said they were pinning their hopes on the ski season going ahead.

"That would stem some of the hurt."

The rules about mass gatherings would need to be tweaked as 2000 people could be on the mountain on any day during the season, he said.

ALDEN WILLIAMS/STUFF The Roys Peak carpark where people used to fight over carparks.

"The Government will need to understand the nuances."

Another gauge of the coronavirus impact on Wanaka was at the Kika restaurant, one of New Zealand's top eateries.

The restaurant scores highly on the Chinese version of Trip Advisor and normally Chinese tourists queue up before opening to get a seat. On Friday night when your correspondents visited, a table was readily available.

Another sign of the crisis was the free car park at Roy's Peak Track, about five minutes drive from the centre of Wanaka.

Normally packed at this of year with the local farmer opening his paddock next door for motorists prepared to pay $5, only about 20 cars and campervans were dotted about.

One of those belonged to young Czech travellers Jana Kocandova and Jiri Lasak who have been in New Zealand for four months working in Marlborough vineyards and farms.

Every day Kocandova calls her parent and grandparents back home where the Government has shut down the country and closed its borders.

ALDEN WILLIAMS/STUFF Czech travellers Jiri Lasak, left, and Jana Kocandova at the base of Roy's Peak following a 3am expedition to the summit.

New Zealand felt safe and the restrictions meant less people on the glaciers and tracks, she said. They were also getting cheaper rates in some places and hoped to continue their holiday.

On the Wanaka lake front, Milan and Marketa Hrdlicka were getting ready for a walk with their two children aged two and seven. They had arrived three weeks ago and were touring the country in a campervan and then a car.

Their flight out on April 21 had been cancelled but they were taking it all in their stride and were in no hurry to get back.

"This is a beautiful country and we like the people. We will just carry on," Milan, a finance expert, said.

ALDEN WILLIAMS/STUFF Sign of the times in downtown Wanaka.

By the end of Saturday, a quiet rain was falling in Wanaka.