Kerren and Ken Withington, who own and operate Bay Tours and Charters, at their new base. Photo / Paul Taylor
Kerren and Ken Withington, who own and operate Bay Tours and Charters, at their new base. Photo / Paul Taylor
A long-standing Napier company which runs its own tours hopes the grand opening of its new headquarters will coincide with a much-needed uptick in tourism.
After a two-and-a-half year process, Bay Tours and Charters hosted a grand opening on Friday to celebrate its new Onekawa headquarters on Turner Place.
Thecompany has been operating for almost 40 years in Hawke's Bay and has a fleet of 17 buses and vehicles ranging from 45 seaters to 16 seaters.
Like many companies, Bay Tours has been affected by a drop in tourism to the region during the Covid pandemic, including from Auckland travellers who have been stuck in lockdown.
Bay Tours operations manager Peter Hibbard said the company had seen others in the tourism industry who hadn't made it through lockdown and the opening was intended to show Bay Tours was optimistic about the future for the industry.
"Having moved into the new premises, we just wanted to say to the industry 'listen, come along and let's just celebrate those of us who are still hanging in there and look forward to the future'," he said.
Local operators are hoping for a much-needed uptick in tourism. Photo NZME
He said Bay Tours had been renting offices down the road from their new headquarters while an office was moved on to the site.
He said they had been keeping their fleet of coaches on the empty lot since mid-2019, after having to move out of their former home in Ahuriri.
"It's great that we're all on the one site [now], it's great for our driving staff, they don't have to come over to the office to get the jobs and then go over the road to get the vehicle."
Managing director Kerren Withington said the larger premises, compared with their old home in Ahuriri, was setting them up well for the future.
She said they had plenty of bookings coming in for summer and could not wait for international travel to open up again as well.
"I think everything is going to pick up with tourism and we are in a place that we feel confident that in time tourism will be absolutely humming," she said.
"Over the last period we have had lots of things cancelled, but we have our tour club and summer for that is looking amazing ... and we have good bookings coming through for the summer."
The business operates everything from charter and wine tours to its own organised tours, which it advertises through a catalogue released every six months.
Their tour club, which is free to join, has about 6000 members who are sent the catalogue and can choose from a wide range of trips across the country, all organised by Bay Tours.
