‘Open for business’: East coast sounds call for tourists this summer

Businesses across the Tairawhiti region are hoping to get the message out that they are open for business this summer after years of Cyclone Gabrielle and severe flooding recovery. Now facing economic pressures due to ongoing industry pressures for forestry, locals are hoping for a tourism boost ahead. Photo / Supplied

Small businesses across the East Coast are welcoming tourists in for the summer period ahead after the community’s resilience in the wake of Cyclone Gabrielle and several economic pressures.

The region over the past few years has been hit hard, with Cyclone Gabrielle temporarily cutting off the community from those nearby, followed by severe flooding in the Wairoa region.

With the cost of living crisis also affecting the community, local closures in the forestry industry have meant its economy is in need of outside support.

Sunshine Brewery general manager Sarah Punnett said the community had struggled over the past few years, but its resilience shone through.

“Over that period of time it really was everybody running around and helping where they could,” Punnett said.

“It was a pretty interesting time, you know, mentally as well as financially and physically for everybody.”

Sunshine Brewery distributes beer across the country, but it also runs a tap room locally.

Sunshine Brewery was largely unaffected by Cyclone Gabrielle, but its general manager Sarah Punnett did her part to pitch in, fundraising $20,000 towards relief efforts. Photo / Supplied

During the cyclone in 2023, the business briefly lost power, while water shortages temporarily stopped them from being able to brew beer.

Punnett said the tap room became a form of refuge for locals during the period, and in an effort to support fundraising efforts, Sunshine brewed a special beer called “Cyclone Gabri-ale” that raised $20,000 towards the recovery fund.

She said the biggest lesson the community learnt was the need to “get on with it”, pivoting when necessary to keep moving forward.

Now the region has mostly recovered, Punnett has one message for those thinking about the summer season.

“Our biggest hope is that people come to town. We understand there’s a cost of living crisis and of course, within our region, we’ve been hit really hard, you know, forestry jobs are gone, agricultural jobs are gone,” Punnett said.

“What we’re really hoping is that people come to town with their money and we just need that positive impact out there. There’s heaps of accommodation, you know, everything works, the beaches are clear.”

Gisborne Chamber of Commerce president Ashley Fisher wanted to emphasise one key message to people looking to come to the region this summer.

“We’ve got a whole lot of cool things in front of us as far as events and opportunities for people to have a good time,” Fisher said.

“The key message is that Gisborne is open for business and that we are in a state of moving forward rather than focusing on the challenges that we’ve had over the last few years.

He said the chamber and council had worked with businesses to help support and lift each other across the difficult period.

Waihua Station and its attached farm shop have been supplying high-quality beef and lamb to the Wairoa community for decades. It is run by sixth-generation Rose Hayes, who is hoping for a bumper summer season ahead. Photo / Supplied

Across the Wairoa community, flooding was a serious issue earlier this year, with the region similarly cut off from surrounding areas.

Rose Haynes runs Waihua Station, a sheep and beef farm that has been operated by her family for six generations, which supplies her local Farm Shop.

Her farm was impacted by slash following the floods, affecting dam walls along the Waihua River which runs adjacent to the property.

She said while they had no power or phone connection for eight days during the intense weather, they thankfully were prepared for the worst.

“We’ve kind of got contingencies in place because I can’t have my chillers and everything stopping working with all my products in there,” Hayes said.

Sarah Mitchell, who runs the Teresa Cocktail Bar in Napier, said she was one of the luckier businesses during the severe weather events, but acknowledged how they have impacted her business in the aftermath.

“After the cyclone, I would say the general morale, especially in Napier, was quite low,” Mitchell said.

“If you talk to anybody who was working in hospitality, it was a struggle because obviously people weren’t going out. It’s been a pretty hard slog since the cyclone.”

For her business, the economic challenges facing the region have hit harder, with a drop in revenue forcing her to close the deli half of the business.

She said continued cost of living pressures, alongside dropping foot traffic, has meant many retail and hospitality businesses next door are feeling the same way.

Teresa Bar hosted a barbecue on the street following Cyclone Gabrielle, to bring people together to spread some positivity. Photo / Supplied

But Mitchell isn’t giving up hope, choosing to see the Cyclone as an opportunity: “One good thing that came out of the cyclone is that we really had to reassess our business practices.”

Looking to the upcoming summer, Mitchell said everyone in the community wants to stay in business, but needs people to get out and support them.

“There is a lot to do here, there’s wineries to go to during the day or breweries, there’s beaches close by you can go to as well and there’s so many cool hospitality venues here doing really interesting things,” Mitchell added.

“What better way to spend your money on an experience rather than another thing in your house that you probably don’t need.”

Fisher reiterated the impact that the cost of living issue has had on the region, forming a perfect storm with the weather events.

However, he believes the light is at the end of the tunnel, particularly for the local industries.

“We’ve tried to think about how we can work together and resolve some of the issues so that we can receive the benefits,” Fisher said.

“With forestry, there’s been a couple of solutions proposed and it started to put a little bit more of a positive kind of view on the industry as a whole. Within every problem like this, there are opportunities involved and that’s an important message to get out there. ”

Tom Raynel is a multimedia business journalist for the Herald, covering small business and retail.