The Western Bay and Tauranga is a hotspot for visitors in the lead-up to Christmas and the summer holidays. Photo / Getty Images
Visitors are eyeing up the Western Bay of Plenty for their Christmas holidays and some accommodation providers are already booked out or nearing capacity.
Their presence will provide a welcome economic boost to the economy and business leaders say it will help an industry that has been hammered by Covid-19.
Bay of Plenty Tourism head of destination marketing Kath Low said many accommodation providers in the Western Bay of Plenty were booking up.
"We've heard from a range of hotels, motels and campgrounds that they are at or nearing full occupancy for the upcoming Christmas holidays."
Domestic visitors were the Coastal Bay of Plenty's most significant market.
Figures show the domestic visitor spend reached $881 million to the year-ending February 2020, comprising 77.9 per cent of the Coastal Bay of Plenty's total visitor spend of $1.131 billion, she said.
"We are relying on the strength of our domestic market and it is vital to our economy. Times are tough for the tourism industry – we know that we won't have the annual $250 million in international visitor and cruise passenger spend in the Coastal Bay of Plenty's economy for some time."
To the year ending March 2019, there were more than 8000 jobs directly employed by the local tourism industry which were "at stake".
But the tourism sector had responded to the pandemic and some incredible innovation had emerged as businesses pivoted to ride out the storm.
Hospitality New Zealand Bay of Plenty regional manager Alan Sciascia said the lockdowns had proven to be costly to many businesses and they would need a strong summer to recover some of those losses.
"Anyone wanting certainty for their accommodation needs over the traditional busy New Year period should book early as popular locations will no doubt fill up quickly."
The Bay of Plenty was somewhat lucky as it was a popular holiday destination for many Kiwis, he said.
Airbnb's country manager for New Zealand and Australia Susan Wheeldon said it had been heartening to see Kiwis display such incredible enthusiasm for exploring their own backyard.
"Ahead of the Christmas holidays, we're particularly seeing interest surge in untapped regional areas within driving distance of major cities, and that includes places in the Western Bay of Plenty and around the Rotorua region."
In the lead-up to summer, there had definitely been an increase in popularity for listings that bring guests close to nature.
Unique listings - such as treehouses, cabins, miniature homes and farm stays - are all highly sought after, as well as homes that are designed for relaxing and unwinding, with everything from panoramic views to outdoor baths.
Meanwhile, booking trends in the Western Bay revealed Bowentown was the most popular and up 50 per cent compared to last year.
Tauranga City Council Mount Maunganui Beachside Holiday Park team leader Mark Hales said it had huge interest with phone calls, emails, and online reservations.
"More people are taking up the offer of cheap campervan deals, and there are noticeably more Kiwis travelling."
Christmas Day to New Year was full.
''We have gaps in mid-January, but these are filling quickly. The bulk of our customers are from the Auckland, Waikato and Bay of Plenty regions – especially during school holidays and Christmas.''
Occupancies rates had also jumped and data shows in August there were 3916 visitors compared to 2637 in August 2019.
Tauranga Chamber of Commerce chief executive Matt Cowley said the tourism, hospitality and retail sectors employed a variety of low-skilled jobs.
"It's great news for young people and others who want to try something new. A busy summer of domestic tourism will put money into a wide variety of people's back pockets."
The region benefits from having more than half of New Zealand's population within a few hours drive.
"It has been a challenging year and coastal regions like Tauranga will benefit from strong domestic tourism and many people visiting friends and family."
Hospitality New Zealand Accommodation Sector Bay of Plenty chairman and 850 Cameron Motel owner Tony Bullot said moteliers were feeling confident for Christmas.
But he said although there was accommodation left in the city people needed to "rattle their dags" to avoid disappointment.
"There are a lot of events coming and now people are booking out three or four days for Christmas."
On the downside, New Zealand Hotel Owners Association executive director Amy Robens said some regions were seeing better traction than others for the upcoming Christmas, but overall, hotel bookings were down by up to 40 per cent.
"Christmas bookings are generally slow off the mark. We're encouraging Kiwis to book well in advance and book direct or via their NZ travel agent to get the bests deals."
She said hotels were being innovative with unique and highly competitive package deals, and working closely with Regional Tourism Organisations and local tourist attractions.
But Covid had hit the industry hard.
"We estimate that the hotel sector workforce has more than halved due to Covid-19. At peak, the hotel sector employed 20,000 people and has been with a heavy heart that hoteliers have had to make mass redundancies with many people being in loyal service for 10, 20 or 30 years."
The financial toll on hotels continues to climb as hotels are expensive assets to run and maintain.
''Business confidence within the sector is much bleaker than general business confidence, with hotels facing immediate cash flow problems and an uncertain future outlook given the slow recovery of international visitor markets of which the majority of hotels heavily rely.''
In April and May alone, when the country was in lockdown alert level 4, hotel room revenue plummeted by 84 per cent and the sector lost $185 million, she said.
Western Bay of Plenty District could have fewer councillors to vote for next election.