Tourism peak season starts early for West Coast hotels and motels

West Coast moteliers have also noticed an increase in people staying during winter.

Strong forward bookings into summer have been welcomed by West Coast hotel and motel owners, who say the peak season is starting earlier than usual.

Bronwyn Vercoe, from the Scenicland Motel in Greymouth, said bookings were "really strong".

"We're busy now," she said. "Indications are the tourist season has either started or is about to start straight after Labour Weekend.

"The summer season is starting at least a month earlier," Vercoe said.

"It's fantastic, because we can employ local people for longer."

They had also noticed an increase in people staying during winter.

Between 70 per cent and 80 per cent of those who stayed at Scenicland Motel during the past weekend were Chinese, while numbers coming south from the North Island were also rising.

Marcus Latimore, from Glenfern Villas at Franz Josef Glacier, said bookings were strong for January and February and they were already 70 per cent full.

"The summer season is just starting to kick in now. We've just come through the low season, which was not too different to last year. But it's the first week in November where it's really going to pick up."

He was expecting a good summer season.

It was a sentiment echoed by Bruce Evans from Sunset Motels at Fox Glacier.

"It's looking pretty good at this stage, with a lot of bookings coming in" Evans said.

"Bookings for the coming season are looking better than last [season]."

Evans said many of the bookings were groups, mainly international tourists - a mixture of Europeans, Chinese and Australians.

Tourism was booming in New Zealand at present, he said.

"We can't complain, things are looking pretty positive, although on the Coast it is still quiet during winter, unlike places like Queenstown."

Dale Truscott, at the Bella Vista Motel in Hokitika, has also been busy, with plenty of Chinese and Australian tourists coming through.

The motel was about 50 per cent booked between now and Christmas, and January was also starting to fill up. November and December were looking better than last year, he said as "the seasons seem to be stretching out".

Tourism West Coast chief executive Jim Little predicted a strong summer for accommodation providers on the Coast.

He said the shoulder seasons were being pushed right out and the summer season that used to run from the start of December through to the end of March was now beginning in October or September and going through to April and May.

The only impediment to future tourism growth on the West Coast was that more accommodation was required, Little said, adding that new 100-room hotels would be needed in Franz Josef, Hokitika, Greymouth and Westport to cope with future demand.

- Greymouth Star