River's Catch owners Isabel T. Ronquillo and Norman Ronquillo. Photo / Supplied
River's Catch owners Isabel T. Ronquillo and Norman Ronquillo. Photo / Supplied
A Rotorua takeaway shop broke revenue records on Wednesday as tourists seeking a fried fix spent up “big time”.
River’s Catch owner Isabel T. Ronquillo said the weather had been really nice and after being closed for four days over Christmas, customers were “stoked” it was open again.
“It’s buzzing,” she said. “Half of them were tourists and they were willing to really spend big time.”
Ronquillo, who owns River’s Catch with her husband Norman, said she had been serving many international visitors, with a large group coming from Melbourne and a family from Copenhagen visiting on their record-breaking Wednesday.
“A lot of Europeans come in - it’s pretty good.”
She said fish and chips were the most popular item on the menu.
She was hoping it would be busy for the rest of the holiday period.
“Right now, we’re prepping to the hilt.”
Ronquillo, the former head chef of Rotorua’s Pullman Hotel, said she and Norman opened River’s Catch last December and had just celebrated its first anniversary.
Originally from the Philippines, the pair enjoyed adding a taste of Filipino culture to the food.
“Opening something, it has to be different, doesn’t it?”
At the Rotorua lakefront, Tearrific owner Chris Senerpida said Wednesday was also “crazy busy”.
“The lakefront was buzzing with people. It’s because of the weather too - [Wednesday’s] weather was so nice. It was so hot so everybody was out and about.”
Senerpida said the most popular order was taro milk tea.
He said some tourists were visiting from Auckland, while many others were from Europe.
“If the weather turns out to be good, I’m expecting it to be busier than last year.”
Wonderworld Amazement Park owners Chris and Fiona Callander. Photo / Mead Norton
Wonderworld Amazement Park co-owner Chris Callander said it had been quiet in December due to the rain.
“But this last week since Christmas it’s just boomed basically with the good weather. We’ve had lots of people coming through - it’s been very good.”
Callander said many visitors had come from overseas, including India and America.
Bookings in January were also looking busy, he said.
Rotorua Accommodation Network chairman and Aura Accommodation owner Nick Fitzgerald said all accommodation had been “really busy” from Boxing Day onwards, similar to previous years.
“It’s pretty difficult finding a place to stay in Rotorua currently and it will continue to be very difficult through the next two-week period.”
