Busy Bay of Plenty summer not enough for some businesses after Covid 19

Mount Surf Academy owner Andy Collins. Photo / File

The Bay of Plenty has been flooded with beachgoers but some businesses say they need more than a week of holiday buzz to get back to business-as-usual.

Staff shortages, uncertainties around bookings, and the looming arrival of the Omicron Covid-19 variant were some of the challenges faced by business owners.

V8 Trike Tours co-owner Kathryn Busbridge said the business had been steady since Christmas but was not "flat out" like previous years.

"The only way to get back to where we were before Covid-19 is for the cruise ships to come back," Busbridge said.

"We set up this business around the cruises. If there were no passengers then we wouldn't have started this."

Still, Busbridge said she was happy to be seeing a lot of faces from Auckland, Hamilton and Wellington among her holiday customers.

"It is great to meet new people."

V8 Trike Tours co-owner Kathryn Busbridge. Photo / File

Monte Gelato manager Megan McCarty said there were a lot of people around but this summer was quieter than the last.

"There's no comparison at all. Our nights have been busy but you can tell by how much gelato we go through."

McCarty believed people were nervous about Covid-19 and not spending as much on luxuries such as eating out after what has been a tough year for many.

Asked what businesses needed to recover from the upheavals of the last year, McCarty's answer was simple: "Time."

Monte Gelato manager Megan McCarty. Photo / NZME

Mount Surf owner Andy Collins said business had picked up over the last four or five days.

"It's still not what it was like pre-Covid. We used to rent around 25 surfboards a day. Now we rent 15."

Collins said the availability of cheap surfboards had also affected his market, with some hobbyists choosing to buy their own boards rather than rent.

"But the beach is very busy. I used to be able to get a park between 9.30am and 10am. Now I have to get in at 8.15am."

Collins said he could not predict the future but he hoped people continued to come to Mount Maunganui over summer.

Bluebiyou co-owner Matt Schaeffer. Photo / NZME

Bluebiyou co-owner Matt Schaeffer said the restaurant was experiencing one of its better summers.

"We're about 10 times busier. The weather and the vibe have been amazing."

Schaeffer said the main problem his business was experiencing was a staff shortage.

"We have to make money after the s*** year we've had and we sometimes have to shut because the staff we do have are exhausted.

"Expectations are hard to meet when you've got less staff or a lot of new staff. It's been a challenge to give customers the same product."

Schaeffer said most customers were understanding and it was great to see so many locals eating out.

Starry Nights Ranch owner Rakai Gul said the lead-up to this summer had been full of uncertainty for her bed and breakfast business near Waihi.

"I usually get bookings in late winter for the summer. [This year] they were cancelling like mad."

Gul said the business was being kept afloat for the last three weeks by last-minute bookings.

"Now we're as busy as we were last summer. Hopefully we'll be okay."

Crowds enjoying the summer sun at Mount Maunganui Beach. Photo / NZME

Pacific Palms Resort manager Nikki Pol said the Pāpāmoa accommodation provider was having an "exceptionally good" January.

"We're fully booked for the whole of January."

Pol said normally she would have expected bookings to drop from midway through this month. This year, there are few rooms available at the resort even in late January.

"It was a tough August, October and November in 2021. Then as soon as Auckland opened there was an influx."

Mount Surf Academy owner Andy Collins. Photo / File

Mount Maunganui Lifeguard Service head lifeguard Gabriel Puckey-Brockelsby said the weeks leading up to Christmas were relatively quiet on the beach but things had "definitely picked up".

"We've been reasonably busy compared to previous years."

Mount Maunganui ice cream store Copenhagen Cones manager Shannon Peters said the shop was going through an average of 320 litres of ice cream each day.

Copenhagen Cones manager Shannon Peters. Photo / File

"It's been extremely busy, just as good as any other summer really.

"People are pretty happy to be getting ice cream. Everyone who walks through the door is pretty chilled and in holiday mode."

Mount Maunganui Lifeguard Service have noted the beach was "reasonably busy" compared to previous years. Photo / NZME

A Mount Maunganui campground staff member said it had been a "really, really busy" summer and far busier than previous summers.

Chief executive of Western Bay of Plenty economic development agency Priority One, Nigel Tutt, said businesses in the area had generally been going well relative to other regions in 2021.

"The return of Auckland visitors will be very welcome over summer, of course.

"Businesses will need to be wary of Omicron looming over New Zealand in the short term. Longer-term - getting staff will be the most important issue in 2022."