Bay of Plenty Times
  • Bay of Plenty Times home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Sport
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Sport

Locations

  • Coromandel & Hauraki
  • Katikati
  • Tauranga
  • Mount Maunganui
  • Pāpāmoa
  • Te Puke
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Thames
  • Tauranga
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Bay of Plenty Times

It's mostly full at the island inn

By Genevieve Helliwell
Bay of Plenty Times·
17 Jul, 2012 09:29 PM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Bay residents looking to exchange their winter blues for an island paradise are being left in the cold.

Accommodation at resorts in the South Pacific are at capacity and local travel agents are struggling to find alternative holiday accommodation for those with last minute plans to escape the winter weather.

Annie Sale, owner of Mondo Travel Cherrywood said the store was "snowed under" with people wanting to travel to Pacific islands.

"Fiji and Rarotonga is just crazy. People are coming in to book but we can't get them accommodation. It's chocka. In Fiji even the Western and Sheraton and other big hotels with hundreds of rooms are at capacity."

Katrina Stewart, owner of TravelCom in Mount Maunganui, said would-be travellers to Fiji and Rarotonga were "almost out of luck", with flights and accommodation "really full".

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"It's absolutely chocka block and that's from now and for the next two to three months."

"I'd tell last minute travellers to forget it because there's only a slim chance they'll be able to get a flight and accommodation. We could get one of those but it's extremely difficult to get both when the demand is so high."

The only way for travellers to get to these destinations was to change their holiday dates or settling on second or third accommodation options, she said.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"The islands are a popular holiday destination for all people and there are lots of accommodation options for people but what we're finding at the moment is places are full across each room category, particularly in August to September.

"I find that's unusual for Fiji."

Increasing numbers of Australian travellers who visited the islands caused a lot of of competition for New Zealand holiday-makers.

Ms Stewart said: "This year in Cairns, it's been the wettest on record and in other parts of Australia it's hasn't been that good so these people are looking to escape too. Everyone thinks [people who travel to the islands] are New Zealanders but it's actually filled with people from all over the place."

Jen Street, director of Harvey World Travel in downtown the Mount, said her staff were "saturated" with people wanting to travel to the Pacific. But since Fiji and Rarotonga options weren't readily available, travellers were opting to fly to other islands such as Samoa, Tahiti and New Caledonia. Or for the same money, travellers were extending their holidays from a week to 10 days and heading to destinations like Thailand. "This is a busy time of year so if people wanted to ensure they could get their first choice in flight time and accommodation, to book their winter escape in December or early January. Gone are the days you can flit over to Sydney for a weekend, you have to book quite far in advance."

While week-long trips to the islands were the most popular now, longer trips to Europe and Canada were also popular as they were "dream trips" and planned months in advance, Mrs Sale said. "Right now it's definitely working in the favour of New Zealand travellers, it's never been a better time to travel because we're getting such good value for the kiwi dollar."

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Bay of Plenty Times

Bay of Plenty Times

Farmer's harrowing hours crushed beneath tractor

04 Jul 02:00 AM
Bay of Plenty Times

Farmer's harrowing hours crushed beneath tractor

Bay of Plenty Times

'A f****** ugly mess': Gang boss' text after fatal hotbox attack on mate of 20 years

04 Jul 12:24 AM

There’s more to Hawai‘i than beaches and buffets – here’s how to see it differently

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Bay of Plenty Times

Farmer's harrowing hours crushed beneath tractor

Farmer's harrowing hours crushed beneath tractor

04 Jul 02:00 AM

Peter was trapped under a tractor for hours on his Mangakino farm.

Farmer's harrowing hours crushed beneath tractor

Farmer's harrowing hours crushed beneath tractor

'A f****** ugly mess': Gang boss' text after fatal hotbox attack on mate of 20 years

'A f****** ugly mess': Gang boss' text after fatal hotbox attack on mate of 20 years

04 Jul 12:24 AM
Traffic concerns grow as Tauriko roading developments advance

Traffic concerns grow as Tauriko roading developments advance

03 Jul 11:48 PM
From early mornings to easy living
sponsored

From early mornings to easy living

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Bay of Plenty Times e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Bay of Plenty Times
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP