Dry Easter caps tourism boom for Northland

The Grant family, Michael holding Leo, Emilie, mum Lucie and Antonie were waiting to catch a bus home to Waiheke after visiting family in Russell over the busy Easter break. Photo / Tania Whyte

Northland's hospitality sector is making hay big time this endless summer - so much so that a number of high-profile events in the coming weeks could force visitors to scramble for decent accommodation.

Easter came early for tourism hosts, who described business this year as the best ever, helped by a combination of good weather, end of the global financial crisis and cheaper petrol prices.

The Deck Cafe in Whangarei Heads has been three times as busy this Easter and owner Kerry Gentry wondered where all the people had come from.

"I've been here 11 years and this has been the busiest Easter ever by a long shot, so Northland in general has done really well," he said.

Mr Gentry said that, unlike the past three years when bad weather had been predicted in the lead-up to Easter, fine spells this year, coupled with cheap petrol prices and a number of outdoor activities have helped boost tourism numbers.

Pembrooke Motor Lodge in Whangarei has been running at 92 per cent occupancy since mid-December and owner Rick Codlin said the International Rally of Whangarei, Fifa Under-20 World Cup pool matches and a forestry conference would not only bring much-needed revenue to Northland but would also raise the profile of the region, both nationally and internationally.

"I've had no vacancies for the last three to four weeks and this week I am hosting officials from New Zealand Table Tennis, who are here for their tournament where about 120 players are competing at the Kensington Stadium," Mr Codlin said.

Casa Blanca Motel on Western Hills Drive put up the no-vacancy sign on Thursday, after accepting bookings from families and international tourists.

Manager Denise Newman said the one, two and three bedroom units appealed to a good cross-section of guests, who also travelled to explore the Far North while staying in Whangarei. Among her guests were four female international students from Auckland, who drove to Cape Reinga.

Greg Shipton, owner of the Continental Motel on Kamo Rd, said bookings this year have been a lot better, with more people out and about.

Rooms at his motel in the past three months have been nearly full, with mainly families.

Northland tourism leader and co-owner of Dive Tutukaka, Jeroen Jongejans, said the region was the best playground in the country, if not the South Pacific, for water activities such as fishing, diving and snorkelling.

"The confidence for people to travel and to spend is back with an end to the global financial crisis and, of course, the water is still warm, so it's a perfect combination. It has been extremely busy and we're going to be lacking accommodation around the time of the Fifa Under-20 World Cup," he said.

Mr Jongejans said Tourism New Zealand's push to market the shoulder season, which ran two months before and after summer, was also paying off.

Paihia has been buzzing with visitors, who were making the most of the Easter break. Fishing, lying on the beach and visiting Cape Reinga were just some of the activities tourists got up to while they visiting the winterless North.

Michael Grant, a local who lived in Prague for 17 years and now lives on Waiheke Island, was up for the weekend to visit family and friends in Russell.

"It's been very busy, we've been out fishing. We went out on the R Tucker [Thompson], it was wonderful. The journey [home] is the issue."

A family of six from Auckland had driven up from Auckland on Sunday and said the traffic was quiet, but Maggie Ma said yesterday she thought it would be a different story since it was the last day of Easter.

"I'm a little bit worried about heading back this afternoon because of the traffic," said Ms Ma.

Sitting on a bench outside the markets waiting to catch a bus to Auckland yesterday was Norn Wesselius from the Netherlands, who was visiting Paihia as part of her journey across New Zealand. She had stayed longer than expected because she had enjoyed it so much.