Maddie, 7 and her brother Flynn, 11, at their holiday home at Lake Ōkāreka, spent their long weekend mountain-biking and boating in the lakes area. Photo / Stephen Parker
Maddie, 7 and her brother Flynn, 11, at their holiday home at Lake Ōkāreka, spent their long weekend mountain-biking and boating in the lakes area. Photo / Stephen Parker
Rugby and recharging were among some of main themes running through Rotorua this Labour Weekend and restaurants, bars, and accommodation providers reaped the benefits.
Reg Hennessy, Hospitality New Zealand Rotorua branch president and owner of Hennessy's Irish Bar, said the pub had been particularly busy at the weekend from the Rugby World Cup and Mitre 10 cup final which Bay of Plenty took home.
"It's been quite the sporting weekend, so it's been very busy due to outside influences."
Hennessy said now was the time bars and restaurants looked ahead to Christmas and summer.
Reg Hennessy, Hospitality NZ Rotorua branch president and owner of Hennessy's Irish Bar, said the pub had been particularly busy at the weekend including the Mitre 10 cup final. Photo / File
Alan Sciascia, Bay of Plenty regional manager at Hospitality New Zealand, said it had been a good long weekend, helped by warm, fine weather which always brought more people to the region.
"Generally speaking, it's been a quite good weekend for most hospitality operators, and I think they will be pleased about how things have gone this Labour Weekend," he said.
A spokeswoman from the Pig & Whistle Historic Pub said they were not as busy as expected and put some of that down to the sunny weather.
"We have been busy but it hasn't been crazy busy like past Labour Weekends," she said.
"We were chocka on Saturday night but once the All Backs lost their semi-final game, lots of their supporters left but unsurprising the England players stayed on."
The All Blacks' loss had definitely impacted on the amount of business the bars and pubs in the area had received, the woman said.
Hospitality New Zealand's Alan Sciascia says fine weather helped contribute to a good long weekend. Photo / File
But the long weekend was not all about eating and drinking out.
The Rodgers family from Auckland's North Shore spent Labour Weekend at their holiday home at Lake Ōkāreka.
It was a three-hour trip they made every Labour Weekend for more than nine years, David Rodgers said.
David, wife Tracey and their children Maddie, 7, and Flynn, 11, spent the weekend mountain-biking, dirt-biking and boating on the nearby lakes.
"We all had a wonderful time and the kids just love it," he said.
Rodgers, a quantity surveyor, said it was a great way to "recharge the batteries" and the only downside was having to "fight the traffic" heading home again.
Taupō All Seasons Holiday Park owner Suzi Blank said her units were fully booked on Saturday and Sunday.
"Given this is our first year owning the park, it is hard to gauge demand, but we were quite busy," she said.
Lake Taupō Holiday Resort manager Ben Lusty said they had more than 300 sites and while not everyone was booked, the resort was "full enough" and they were kept busy the entire weekend.
