The thousands of people who lined the city riverbanks for the fireworks show on New Year's Day included plenty of holidaymakers. Photo / Murray Robertson
The thousands of people who lined the city riverbanks for the fireworks show on New Year's Day included plenty of holidaymakers. Photo / Murray Robertson
Tairāwhiti visitor numbers were “on a par” with recent years over the peak holiday period despite weather issues in late December and January.
The Rhythm and Vines music festival from December 28-31 was once again the major contributor.
It spiked Tairāwhiti’s population by 18,000 to 20,000 people over four days.
But it was not all about R&Vers.
Staff at the Gisborne i-Site information centre in Grey St reported they were “rather busy” over the peak season ... “pretty much the same as previous years, on a par”.
Gisborne i-Site staff say the season was on a par with previous years, but there were a lot of international visitors. Photo / Anne-Marie de Bruin
“We did see a lot of international visitors over Christmas and early New Year, particularly from Europe. The Europeans were here to escape their winter.”
The exchange rate of $2 to €1 attracted more visitors from Europe.
“We had some wet weather at times in January, but it didn’t seem to bother the people we saw at the i-Site.”
Paid lifeguards on the city and Tolaga Bay beaches said it was one of the most exciting and eventful peak summer periods they had seen.
“Our guards were kept on their toes for the full six weeks [they were on duty],” said Thomas Dodds, Gisborne Tairāwhiti’s club support lead for Surf Life Saving New Zealand.
“The overall beach numbers seemed lower than previous years. However, the number of incidents that our lifeguards responded to was at an all-time high.”
The beaches, especially Wainui (pictured), drew thousands of Rhythm and Vines festival-goers once the weather settled just before the new year. Photo / Murray Robertson
Reaction from moteliers the Gisborne Herald spoke to was varied, but for most it was a busy season.
One motel manager said it was “okay but not really startling”.
“Over R&V, we definitely had a lot of people staying.”
Another manager said they were “really busy - pretty much full from mid-December to the end of January”.
“Chocker” was the response from another.
“We had a good peak season, a good turnout with a lot of families visiting.”
“We were busy, about the same,” said another. “But the State Highway 2 north road closure had an impact. We had to bring our prices down to maintain our occupancy.”
