Bar tender Patrick McGirr said Rain Bar had experienced its busiest summer. Photo / George Novak
Auckland Anniversary Weekend in the Bay looks set to live up to its reputation as one of the busiest over summer, with a fine forecast, major events and accommodation at the Mount nearing capacity.
Owner of Bay Palm Motel in Girven Rd, Mike Fagan, said Motel Association members at the Mount were all fully booked over anniversary weekend.
"Motels this weekend will have a two-night minimum stay. You'd be upset if you weren't going to be full this weekend," he told the Bay of Plenty Times Weekend.
A couple of his rooms were booked by people attending the Jetpsrints at nearby Baypark but a lot of visitors from Auckland and Hamilton flocked to Tauranga for the long weekend.
"You name it, they're here for it. There's always people that plan well in advance," he said.
According to Metservice, the forecast is for brilliant sunshine in Tauranga on Saturday and Sunday and highs of 26C, dropping to just 16C both nights.
Monday brings another fine day with the possibility of some cloud and light winds, but the same high of 26C.
Across the bridge in Tauranga there were still beds available at a number of motels, including Avenues motor inn, Colonial Court.
On Tuesday this week owner Kris Stamatakos still had seven units available for tonight, five for tomorrow night and 10 for Sunday night.
It was important potential visitors weren't put off by the idea that there wasn't any accommodation available in the Bay, he told the Bay of Plenty Times Weekend.
"The Mount's full - Tauranga side isn't," he said.
At Papamoa's Blokart Heaven general manager Matt Beckett said any long weekend proved a busy time on the track.
By Wednesday a large chunk of Saturday had been booked up and he was expecting busy afternoons over the weekend.
"It's been a reasonably typical summer for us. It's typically busy right up until the end of that first week of January.
"Then it softens off a little bit.
"We've had a couple of strangely quite days but we've had some particularly good days as well."
The sunny weather also meant visitors were spending a lot of time at the beach, he said.
Mr Beckett said a lot of locals were familiar faces at Blokart Heaven. "It's definitely not just a tourist attraction," he said.
"Typically any long weekend in the summer months is a busy weekend for us."
Meanwhile, Tauranga bars and restaurants were hoping the crowds would continue.
Brew Bar on The Strand was hosting live music over the weekend and running a cheap pizza deal on Monday to bring the punters in.
Due to a negative response from customers in the past, duty manager Tina Masiarova said the bar would not impose a surcharge on Monday. "It has been proven that it's not really good for the business so we just stopped," she said.
With a lot of events, including the Seafood Festival on in Auckland, she hoped visitors would still head to Tauranga. "To be honest it can go one way or another."
Rain Bar at Papamoa had experienced a "fantastic" holiday season.
"We've had our busiest summer Rain Bar's ever seen actually," said bar tender Patrick McGirr. He hoped the busy stretch would continue well into February.
The "scorching" weather had helped, along with a packed camping ground at Papamoa Domain and a busy motel across the road. The recent upgrade to Papamoa Plaza had also attracted more people to the area, he said.
The bar would charge 15 per cent extra for food on Monday, but not drinks, he said.
Regional Hospitality Association president Alan Sciascia said it was a difficult decision for members to open or close on public holidays. Wages made up a third of the budget for hospitality businesses and staff were paid time and a half and received a day in lieu for working on public holidays, he said.
"Some see it (a surcharge) as necessary to re-coop their costs, others see it as posing another barrier for the customer so they're trying to get away from it," he said.
Mr Sciascia said it was "a bit of a gamble" for business owners.
"Am I going to take the risk and open and hope the others stay closed so I can get their customers? There's only so many customers. It's a hell of a calculation that these people have make."