Stolen Bike Catering has had its busiest year ever catering for Christmas functions. Pictured: Owner Ryan Gregorash. Photo / Andrew Warner
Some Bay of Plenty catering companies are busier than ever, and employees are clocking up 16-hour days to keep up with demand, as businesses host Christmas parties and other activities.
Bookings are also rolling in at local bars and restaurants, some of which are struggling to find staff to work the busy period.
The news comes as a report from the Restaurant Association shows 80 per cent of 30 Bay members surveyed said they had experienced corporate Christmas party cancellations.
But Ryan Gregorash said his Rotorua business, Stolen Bike Catering, had been the busiest in six years.
"This past Saturday, we had seven functions going and we're fully booked all the way through until Christmas... and we're still getting inquiries."
Gregorash, who also owns Matai Restaurant at the Regal Palms Resort Rotorua, said the restaurant had also been busy with Christmas bookings.
"In the past seven weeks every Friday and Saturday has been our busiest and it's building."
Usually, Gregorash said his catering business opened on Christmas day but this year would be the first time it would close on December 25. It would also be the first time one of his staff members had had Christmas day off in "decades", he said.
Owner of Lemongrass Catering Company in Tauranga, Belinda Lombard, said the business was "flat tack".
"We've blocked days out now because we can't take on any more."
Lombard said most of the big corporate Christmas events had been pre-booked and they had catered for functions with as many as 230 people.
"I'm feeling pretty blessed. Our staff are working like crazy."
To cater for the demand, Lombard said she had been clocking up 16-hour days.
Since Covid-19 lockdown, Lombard said "even if there was a whiff of Covid" her business would get cancellations.
Lombard said the lockdown "took absolutely everything out of us".
"But things have come back a lot faster than we thought it would."
Christmas functions were important to help the hospitality industry recover, Lombard said.
"We 100 per cent need it. Everybody has been hit hard."
A Restaurant Association survey showed of the 30 Bay businesses that responded, 80 per cent said they had experienced corporate Christmas party cancellations.
A total of 54.55 per cent said their Christmas function bookings were worse than normal, while 36.36 said their festive bookings were about the same and 9 per cent said they were better than normal.
Restaurant Association New Zealand chief executive Marisa Bidois said the Christmas period was "crucial to our industry".
"For many, this makes up for the quieter times of the year."
Hospitality New Zealand Bay of Plenty branch president Reg Hennessy, who also owns Hennessey's Irish Bar in Rotorua, said thankfully this year their Christmas bookings were "way up" on last year.
"I believe this is mainly due to a lot of work by our staff following up on every inquiry and working hard to meet the customers' expectations.
"We are having more bookings for work and group functions this year for midweek, which is proving very helpful."
However, his Rotorua bar had decided to pass on having a staff function this year.
"We are reviewing all our staff's remuneration."
Hospitality New Zealand Bay of Plenty regional manager Alan Sciascia said business was relatively strong in the sector in lead-up to Christmas.
"While cancellations have always been synonymous with hospitality, we are not getting any reports that the incidence is noticeably higher than previous years."
Area and entertainment manager for The Rising Tide in Mount Maunganui and High Tide at Our Place in Tauranga, Lisa Rooney, said Christmas functions post lockdown were "incredibly important".
"Larger functions are generally what keeps High Tide bar at Our Place afloat," she said.
"The city isn't as busy as the Mount, therefore needs the boost. Christmas functions are an important part of the season's takings."
The biggest "disaster" was staffing issues. CVs were drying up and many people were leaving to pick kiwifruit instead, she said.
"Anyone we do get applying wants the last week of December off and the first week of January [which is] our busiest time."
Rooney said there was no time for staff to have a Christmas party.
"It's a big issue among the industry at the moment."
Pig & Whistle operations manager Rosie Harding said the Rotorua pub still had plenty of Christmas bookings.
"Our function room has been booked up for Friday and Saturdays since about November."
However, Harding said it seemed people were spending less and having smaller functions this year.
Tauranga Chamber of Commerce chief executive Matt Cowley said it was fair to say Christmas parties were not on the top priority list for most companies until recently.
"Mid-year I heard the bigger corporates were wondering if it would seem out-of-touch if they celebrated while NZ was facing an economic recession.
"The economy has bounced back and I see a lot of last-minute Christmas parties being planned."
The biggest constraint, he said, was people's fatigue and energy levels after an exhausting year.
"Numbers for most social business events have dropped off because people are tired or are rushing to complete jobs before Christmas."
Rotorua Chamber of Commerce chief executive Bryce Heard said he had anecdotal feedback that Christmas bookings were down this year.
"This is a simple result of less businesses operating now than there was a year ago."
Heard said there were no reports of businesses deciding not to have a Christmas party this year.
"There are a few of examples of businesses pivoting to offer this service, who have picked up a share of this market. This should not be seen as growth, but rather a redistribution of the pie."
Tourism Bay of Plenty head of destination marketing Kath Low said Christmas functions were a great opportunity for employers to acknowledge the challenging year their staff had faced while supporting local hospitality businesses "who have done it tough".
Low said businesses were reporting the lead time for bookings had been shorter this year.
"Those businesses we have heard from are very busy."
Destination Rotorua interim chief executive Andrew Wilson said Rotorua was lucky to have many options for fun Christmas functions.
"These functions always provide an important source of revenue for many of our local tourism and hospitality operators.
"This year that contribution is even more important given the loss of income that many have suffered through the lockdown periods and as a result of the closed borders."
Owner of Waimarino Adventure Park in Tauranga, Blair Anderson, said the business had a "good uptake" in Christmas functions this year.
That included a festive function of about 520 people last weekend, he said.
"It's good to see Kiwis out enjoying what Tauranga has to offer."
Activities and Events Unlimited owner Ian Mexted-Dykes said Christmas functions weren't typically the company's target market.
But he said the business was working with Toi Ohomai Institute of Technology in Tauranga for their Christmas function.
But since lockdown, bookings in general had "boomed", he said.
"We've been flat stick and will be until about December 16."
'This decision has not been made lightly'.