More than 900 reservations have been cancelled since the Napier flooding as it is needed to continue accommodation for flood affected residents. Photo / File
More than 900 reservations have been cancelled since the Napier flooding as it is needed to continue accommodation for flood affected residents. Photo / File
More than 900 reservations at Kennedy Park Holiday Park have been cancelled since the Napier flooding to temporarily house those who had to evacuate their homes.
Other holiday parks in the region are also straining at the seams in the lead up to the Christmas and summer holidays, but haveput it down to an increase in domestic travel rather than the impact of the cancellations at Kennedy Park.
After some Napier residents had to evacuate their homes due to the flooding last month, Kennedy Park Resort became the place that housed them as it has a longstanding commitment to being Napier's dedicated emergency accommodation provider in the event of a major disaster or incident.
A Napier City Council spokesperson said there are 70 units at Kennedy Park Resort set aside for flood-affected residents who currently have no alternative accommodation options, of which 58 are currently occupied.
They are working with the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment to find a solution for those people as it is difficult to know how long the residents may be needing to stay at the resort.
"We had cancelled 195 bookings up to November 30. For December and January, we have cancelled a total of 748 reservations.
"Due to the impact of the November floods on the Napier community, Kennedy Park Resort in conjunction with central and local government is needing to continue to provide safe accommodation for those residents affected.
"For many of these residents, alternative accommodation arrangements have and are being found and the number of accommodation requirements are reducing.
"However, unfortunately some cancellations of booked accommodation at the resort have been required with many of our valued guests being understanding of the circumstances."
Notice periods ranged from two weeks out, to one and a half months, depending on when guests were due to stay.
The process has been to call guests in reservation date order, referring them to the i-SITE, then send an email so they receive the information again in writing.
The spokesperson said the council is working closely with Napier i-SITE, who guests have been referred to in reservation date order, to provide alternative accommodation options in Napier.
Other holiday parks in the region have not been impacted by the Kennedy Park cancellations but are quickly booking up before Christmas. Photo / Paul Taylor
While other holiday parks have not been impacted by the cancellations at Kennedy Park, they are busy.
Manager of the Clifton Motor Camp, Adam Jackson, said up until December 20 they are "really, really busy" and by the 31st they will be "probably completely full".
They have about 112 sites and four cabins, and powered sites are almost full.
They are currently steady but before that and it's busier this year than last year with domestic tourism he said.
The Cape Kidnappers tractor tours starting back up had already brought in a couple of visitors and he expected this to continue to boost numbers.
Owner of the Bay View Hotel & Holiday Park, Trevor Morrin, said their park, which is smaller than others, always becomes quite full this time of year, but he said there does seem to be more local people travelling this year.
The cabins they have are all booked and most of the powered sites are also booked up.
