Crowds packed out the 2021 festival. Photo / NZME
A "tough summer ahead" has been predicted for sectors such as hospitality and accommodation after the cancellation of major music festival Bay Dreams.
The news this week came as a blow to contractors and ticketholders, as well as Tauranga's economy, with up to 30,000 concert-goers spending millions in the city each January.
Bay Dreams North director Mitch Lowe said people had been "incredibly supportive" after Wednesday's announcement the Bay Dreams festivals in Mount Maunganui and Nelson were off for 2022, returning in 2023.
He said a "more intimate" electronic show would take place in the Bay of Plenty instead, with 8000 tickets going on sale next week.
Festival tickets were being refunded.
Lowe said the decision to cancel became clear a few weeks ago after not being able to book MIQ rooms for artists, some with tour parties of more than 30 people.
"At the start, it was a very difficult concept to process, but as time went on when we were trying to get these rooms it became super clear the path that we needed to take."
Lowe said while there was a "huge amount of disappointment" for Bay Dreams contractors in Mount Maunganui, there were other opportunities for work this summer.
Asked why organisers had not replaced the international acts with New Zealand musicians, Lowe said the "scale of the acts [organisers] needed to replace were not available".
It made more sense to do a new "more intimate" show, he said. A venue and more details will be announced next week.
Priority One chief executive Nigel Tutt said the cancellation was "unfortunate but no surprise".
He said the "entire summer events season" was "at risk".
"Operators need some certainty to be able to put on events and we simply don't have that at the moment," he said.
Tutt said typically this season gave a $50 million "spending bump" to local retail, hospitality and accommodation providers.
All may not be lost, however. "Over the last 18 months we have seen that people are good at finding alternative ways to spend," Tutt said.
Hospitality New Zealand accommodation sector Bay of Plenty chairman and 850 Cameron Motel owner Tony Bullot said accommodation providers were getting used to events being canned.
He expected roughly 90 per cent of guests booked to stay early January would have attended Bay Dreams.
"Nobody books this far out unless they are booking for a reason, and the reason is Bay Dreams."
Bullot encouraged vaccination uptake and was eager to see a "road map" out of the Covid-19 alert levels.
"It is getting to a point where a very large part of the population are being held hostage by a very small part."
Owner of Pacific Coast Lodge and Backpackers and Wanderlust NZ, Sarah Meadows, was saddened by the news and said it was "one hit after another".
"We thought the Covid passports would give some certainty so we could plan but there's no road map.
"We've tried to pivot to the domestic market, we've tried everything. Should we hibernate, should we shut the hostel down? We need to know what to do."
Tauranga Chamber of Commerce chief executive Matt Cowley said it was a "devastating blow" to the economy and the confidence of local event managers.
Ongoing lockdowns in both Auckland and Waikato removed a major market for the Bay events sector. He felt it was unlikely Aucklanders would be able to leave the region during the usual festival season.
And after an "extremely quiet" winter accommodation providers were "desperate" to be booked up.
A successful vaccine rollout and free travel throughout the country would help ensure Tauranga was open for business in summer, he said.
Tourism Bay of Plenty chief executive Oscar Nathan it was "disappointing" the vaccine passport concept was not substantive enough to see a more domestic-orientated line-up proposed for the festival.
He said festival organisers would not have taken the decision lightly.
"It's a very challenging time for tourism-related businesses and major events such as this have been bankable lifelines in previous years."
Auckland and Waikato residents being unable to travel through the school holidays had caused a significant impact on Bay tourism.
Early indications from "forward-looking accommodation bookings data" show that the weeks leading up to Christmas and New Year would also be quiet.
"While we know Kiwis tend to book last-minute, the reality of the situation is that without large-scale events, like Bay Dreams, to attract visitors it could be a tough summer ahead for some businesses."
Tauranga City Council's general manager of community services, Gareth Wallis, said Bay Dreams had helped reinforce the city as a "major events destination".
A report commissioned for the 2019 event showed the event attracted 29,347 unique attendees, generating 58,057 visitor nights and a net benefit of more than $4 million to the local economy.
Sushi Panda owner Fernando Pinilla, who was set to serve up sushi at Bay Dreams, said the cancellation would have a "huge impact".
"We started planning months ago because of how big an event it is and it's a great loss of sales," he said.
But he said living the "food truck life" meant focusing on operating year-round and not just relying on big summer events.
"I'm just trying to give the Sushi Pandas flavour all year long."
A MIQ spokesperson said all group allocations were decided by the Border Exception Ministerial Group, which was led by the Minister of Immigration.
A statement from Immigration Minister Kris Faafoi's office said as vaccination rates increased there would be "more options at the border", which the Government had already started exploring.
Sarah Walker is honoured for her services to BMX and sports governance.
