Hotels and eateries looking forward to holiday influx

The first long weekend since June is here and Rotorua's hotels and restaurants are looking forward to the influx of visitors for Labour Weekend.

Rotorua Association of Motels chairwoman and owner/operator of Cedarwood Lakeside Holiday Resort Fiona Suurenbroek said although bookings were looking a "little bit quiet", this was normal as people often left booking accommodation until the last minute.

"People are still ringing in a panic asking if we've got any accommodation. They've just realised it's a long weekend and they can go away."

She said she didn't think there would be any negative impact from Labour Weekend being so soon after the school holidays.

Rotorua Restaurant Association representative and Triple 1 Five owner John Knight said much of how well they would do would depend on what the weather does.

"We're okay at the moment but we could always do with more. It depends entirely on whether the weather is looking good."

He said he had a few bookings but out-of-towners tended to just turn up.

"Everyone down Eat Streat is ... hopeful that it's going to be good. We've got a few bookings but a lot of the people from Auckland don't tend to book and just rock up. We've got a few local bookings but we're just waiting for the influx."

The weather for Labour Weekend isn't looking the greatest, with cloud, northwesterlies and rain showers lasting over the three days.

MetService's weekend outlook has tomorrow cloudy with rain overnight and northwesterly winds, Sunday with rain easing to showers and Monday with a few showers and northwesterlies dying out. Temperatures will range between highs of up to 16C and lows of 7C and 8C.

MetService forecaster Stephen Glassey said tomorrow was looking to be the best day for long weekend holidaymakers, being mostly fine with showers developing later in the night.

"Saturday looks like the best day with rain overnight and easing to showers for Sunday and Monday."

For weather updates visit www.metservice.com.