Mount Maunganui Beach was packed on Auckland Anniversary weekend. Photo / George Novak
It was a busy long weekend for many of Tauranga's tourism and hospitality providers - but they and business leaders remain uncertain what the future holds as the absence of international tourists leaves a "big hole" in the local economy.
Auckland Anniversary weekend saw a wide range of popular events for the city, including the First We Eat festival, Dinner in the Park and Rangoli at the Mount.
The upcoming Waitangi weekend is also looking to attract visitors with the Tauranga Moana Waitangi Day Festival and other Waitangi-related events.
The weather put it on for the city over the long weekend, with clear blue skies and temperatures sitting comfortably in the mid-20s.
Waitangi weekend looks to bring similar conditions.
Hospitality New Zealand accommodation sector Bay of Plenty chairman and 850 Cameron Motel owner Tony Bullot said motels throughout the city were looking to be "pretty full" Waitangi weekend as the One Love festival always brought the masses to town.
"We are pretty well guaranteed to be booked out months in advance for it."
He said events made all the difference for the sector at this time and created certainty at a time where there was not much of it.
"Events and public holidays drive our local economy."
He said his motel had been full throughout the summer period but it was looking at a decent drop come late February.
In the past, January to April was the sector's busiest time with international travellers and many would feel the brunt of closed borders now more than ever.
"It's hard to say what the future is going to look like. It only takes one day of bad news to change everything. We just hope Kiwis continue to travel."
Waimarino Adventure Park owner Blair Anderson said it had been a "good and busy" long weekend at the adventure park which was a "fantastic" start to 2021.
"Unfortunately, with many of our visitors heading back to school and our holiday programme coming to an end we expect visitor numbers to drop dramatically this week."
Anderson said this meant the park would have to return to opening only two days a week, rather than seven days a week over the rest of the summer season.
Visitor numbers had been 1 to 2 per cent higher than previous years mainly due to domestic visitors not being able to travel overseas because of Covid-19, he said.
Anderson said Waimarino Kayak Tours, which predominately attracted international visitors, was tracking along nicely with visitor numbers about the same as 10 years ago.
However, he said it had taken a lot of extra planning and hard work by him and staff to achieve these results and keep the business sustainable.
Owner of Bay Explorer - Dolphin and Wildlife Cruises Brandon Stone said long weekends were "huge" for business and they had seen an almost fully booked Auckland Anniversary weekend.
He said things were looking strong for Waitangi weekend and the "exceptional weather" would make a difference for all local tourism operators.
His business was seeing a 10 per cent increase in revenue with larger groups coming through this season, which he said was down to Kiwis exploring their backyard more, he said.
However, he said once Waitangi weekend was over the business would "take a big crash".
They would normally stay open into May but with the current situation, he said he could not see them lasting further than March.
Instead, they would "shut down" and travel themselves to help other tourism businesses across the country, he said.
"I expect Kiwis will start hunkering down from March."
They would reopen again in winter when the great whale migration began, he said.
Iconic Copenhagen Cones shop in Mount Maunganui was doing a roaring trade with people lined up outside the store over the weekend.
Shop owner Danny Nyffeler said it had been a busy long weekend with sales on par with last Auckland Anniversary weekend which was "great news".
"I'm quite happy the way things have gone this weekend as we had expected a small downturn due to the decrease in international visitors," he said.
Nyfeller said the type of business he owned meant they only had a small window to make decent money to help pay the bills and keep the store open.
"It's like the saying goes 'you have to make hay while the sun shines' and it doesn't shine very long often," he said.
"We are very much a weather-dependent business. Thankfully this long weekend the weather gods have been very kind to us."
Tauranga's Chamber of Commerce chief executive Matt Cowley said the city would be "buzzing once again with events and busy cash registers" over the two long weekends.
"The long weekends will be critical to get us through to the next public holiday at Easter.
"International tourism has been New Zealand's biggest export earner for many years. Even with Kiwis seeing more of New Zealand, the absence of international tourists still leaves a big hole in our economy."
He said it would likely be an "extra hard winter" as tourism operators faced their second year of closed borders.
"I hope our local tourism and hospitality operators are replenishing their cash reserves over summer to carry them through the quieter winter months."
Chief executive of Tourism Bay of Plenty, Kristin Dunne, said the long weekends would provide a "much-needed boost to the local tourism industry".
Prior to the impact of Covid-19, domestic visitor spend reached $870 million (year ending January 2020), which comprised 78 per cent of the Coastal Bay of Plenty's total visitor spend of $1.1 billion.
The city was relying on the strength of the domestic market and it was vital to the economy, she said.
She said there was a lot happening over both the long weekends, which provided "more of an incentive to visit".
"The city will come alive with music, speedway, food and cultural festivals, surf lifesaving and beach volleyball."
Last year, both long weekends saw between $2.5 million and $2.7m brought in with visitor's electric card transactions to the Coastal Bay of Plenty, MarketView data showed.
On average, there were close to 100,000 visitors to the coastal Bay of Plenty in total between both the long weekends last year.
"The long weekends will provide the region with a welcome economic injection into the tourism industry."
Hotel Council Aotearoa strategic director James Doolan said on a broad scale, occupancy rates were "significantly down" compared to January last year as it was normally the busiest month for the sector.
"All hoteliers hope for and rely on additional demand during public holidays."
He said there was a "lot of pressure for hotels to do well over long weekends" as it was difficult for them to fill rooms on ordinary weeknights in the current situation.
"The hotel industry recognises the importance of smart health choices in Aotearoa, but from a business perspective it's important that we continue to work towards safe bubble arrangements with other countries. There is no such thing as pent up demand for a hotel room that was empty yesterday – the lost revenue is gone forever."
He said as the country moved towards the cooler seasons and the end of the holidays, prospects were "not looking good".