Bachs and holiday homes in Northland nearly fully booked

Mangawhai is the most popular holiday spot for Aucklanders wanting to spend New Year's eve in their bach and holiday homes. Photo / Tania Whyte

Despite the uncertainty around Covid-19, bachs and holiday homes around Northland are nearly booked out by mostly Aucklanders for the festive season.

Figures released by holiday home management company Bachcare shows 100 per cent bookings at Mangawhai Heads and Mangawhai Village, the most popular summer destination in Northland for Aucklanders, for New Year's Eve.

Bachs and holiday homes in Ruakākā, Matapouri, Tutukaka, Cable Bay, Coopers Beach, and Langs Beach also have full bookings.

However, occupancy for New Year's Eve for the whole of Northland is down 7 per cent (from 92 per cent to 85 per cent) compared to the same time last year because of the uncertainty around Covid with Aucklanders more confident booking stays closer to home.

Towns in the Mid-North such as Paihia, Russell, and Kerikeri are the worst hit.

On a monthly basis, Bachcare said 37 per cent of bookings have been made for December, 23 per cent for January, and 19 per cent for February in Northland.

Bachcare spokeswoman Zaina Razzaq said tourism and accommodation operators in Northland were set to benefit from a surge in the number of Aucklanders booking out-of-town travel.

Matapouri is among the top 10 summer bach destinations for Aucklanders. Photo / Tania Whyte

"Auckland is the single largest source of revenue for most of the domestic travel and tourism industry at the moment and has been navigating a high level of uncertainty in recent months.

"We know that the signals from the Government are providing an increasing level of confidence that Aucklanders will be able to travel at Christmas and as a result we have seen a surge in the number of bookings over the past week," she said.

A large part of the holiday home rental market was heavily reliant on the ability of Aucklanders to access their accommodation by road, she said.

Razzaq said Aucklanders booking for Northland stays between November 8 and 14 were up 127 per cent on the prior week and a 46 per cent increase from guests from other locations.

Mangawhai Heads and Matapouri are among the top 10 summer bach destinations for Aucklanders.

Hordes of Aucklanders are expected to head north when the borders open from December 15 on the proviso those crossing the Auckland boundaries north and south need to show a vaccination certificate or proof of a negative Covid test in the previous 72 hours.

It's not yet clear how the rules will be enforced but it's expected police will carry out spot checks rather than stopping every car due to the high volume of traffic expected