Mount Maunganui businesses expecting a busy summer

It is hoped that having more for people to do around Tauranga, such as Street Prints Mauao, the city's first street art festival, will give businesses a boost this summer. Photo / George Novak

With an increasing population and the Bay about to settle into its peak tourist season, businesses are expecting a busy time ahead.

Accommodation providers say although the week in the lead-up to Christmas is traditionally quiet as people stay home, occupancy starts filling up straight after and they expect it to continue through to March.

That seems to be how retailers are feeling too, hoping the influx of visitors expected over the summer will also bring with it plenty of business.

Mount Mainstreet manager Ingrid Fleming said with more people moving out of areas such as Auckland and into the Bay to live, businesses were expecting a busier than normal summer this year.

The cruise ship season, which was well under way, would also help boost spending in the town centre as passengers get off the boat and flock to the area, Fleming said.

The Ovation of the Seas cruise ship - which features rock climbing walls, a trapeze circus school, dodgem cars, a FlowRider surf simulator, a restaurant by Jamie Oliver, the iFly skydiving wind tunnel and North Star observation capsule and has capacity for 6000 guests and crew - arrives in Tauranga on Friday for the first time this season.

Fleming said Mount Mainstreet was holding different events to attract more people to the areas over summer.

One event aimed to do just that was Street Prints Mauao, Tauranga's original street art festival, held between December 14 and 18.

Fleming said artists had been transforming building walls, pipes and more from plain areas to impressive works of art and expected the different works to become a drawcard for many over the summer on top of the existing alfresco dining options and natural attractions.

She said business had slowed down at Mount Maunganui and generally all over New Zealand during winter but believed spending would pick up "from here on in right through to the end of Feb".

AccommodationNZ's Bay of Plenty accommodation sector group chairman, Tony Bullot, said he expected tourists to enjoy "another lovely summer in Tauranga" with accommodation providers expecting demand to increase after Christmas.

He said the week leading up to Christmas was usually a quiet one because not a lot of people travelled during that time.

However, once Christmas was over, Bullot said the region's accommodation providers would likely experience a normal summer period with people flocking to the area until March - with some weeks, including Auckland Anniversary Weekend, being busier than others.

Bruce Rutherford of Kaimai View Motel Katikati said they were looking pretty busy from now until at least January 5, getting a lot of the overflow from Tauranga.

"We're looking pretty good, we're looking pretty full," Rutherford said.

He said traditionally the week before Christmas was pretty quiet but overall demand had been steady.

Downtown Tauranga spokeswoman Sally Cooke said there was always a lot happening around the Bay of Plenty over summer so retailers and the hospitality industry were all looking forward to a boost to business.

"The Bay is a tourist attraction in its own right," she said.

"We hope it's going to bring the usual influx of people."