Some Western Bay beachside holiday spots are feeling the pinch this season as holidaymakers opt to tighten the purse strings.
Bookings for late January are lighter than in previous years while some visitors have called off coming at all.
Mount Maunganui Beachside Holiday Park manager Mark Hales said the camp's 232 siteshad been almost full since Boxing Day, however there were more spaces than in previous years towards the end of January.
He said some regulars at the camp had been unable to make their later pre-booked holiday dates because their employers were pushing them to take their holidays over the Christmas and New Year period.
"Some people missed out because of that," Mr Hales said.
Meanwhile, some campers were staying for two or three weeks this season, while they may have stayed for a month in previous years.
Down the coast at Papamoa Beach Top 10 Holiday Park manager Rebecca Crosby said the number of last-minute bookings and walk-ins off the street were rising each year. "It has certainly kept us on our toes in that sense. It just keeps getting worse and worse each year."
She said the camp was almost full until January 15 but there were spaces later in the month, which she expected to be filled by the last minute campers before the arrival of the older couples in February and March.
One of the worst hit was Westhaven Motel on Pilot Bay, where manager Tracy Hendre said some of the regulars - including a couple from Christchurch - said it had been a tough year financially and they could not afford their annual holiday at the Mount. She said yesterday two of the motel's nine units were empty for New Year's Eve, however they had turned away some younger revellers for fear they may disturb families with young children in other rooms. "It's left us sort of in the lurch at the last minute really," she said. "It's been really hard this year, hopefully it picks up next year."
At Oceanside Resort & Twin Towers on the main Mount Maunganui beachfront bookings were strong through the New Year period, with a slight lull before the resort was fully booked from January 7 to 9 for the Port of Tauranga Half Ironman at Mount Maunganui.
