Rotorua Daily Post
  • Rotorua Daily Post home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Sport
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Residential property listings
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Rural
  • Sport

Locations

  • Tauranga
  • Te Puke
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Tokoroa
  • Taupō & Tūrangi

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales

Weather

  • Rotorua
  • Tauranga
  • Whakatāne
  • Tokoroa
  • Taupō

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Rotorua Daily Post

Kelly Makiha: Do we have enough beds left for long weekend visitors?

Kelly Makiha
By Kelly Makiha
Multimedia Journalist·Rotorua Daily Post·
22 Oct, 2020 08:00 PM2 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

Photo / Getty Images

Photo / Getty Images

OPINIION

We're on the cusp of the first long weekend for a few months and it begs the question: will we have enough beds to host visitors to our region?

For some accommodation outlets, bars, restaurants and tourism operators it'll be a time to cash in after a dire year since the outbreak of Covid-19.

But look around our motels and hotels and today's landscape is a lot different to what it used to be.

Motels are chocka with the city's homeless and in Rotorua, three of the city's hotels are off limits because they're being used as isolation hotels.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

That's hundreds of bed options gone. Just like that.

If there are fewer places to stay, potential visitors will go elsewhere - and that is a concern.

A quick look on Booking.com and Airbnb for two adults and two children throws up few options, although some are costly.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

On Booking.com there's a luxury resort in Rotorua that'll cost $5900 for three nights and a swanky house in Tauranga will cost $3800 for three nights.

There are still some options in Tauranga on Airbnb, but people will have to stay somewhere such as Pukehina or Te Puke if you want to enjoy what Rotorua has to offer.

Discover more

'He loved his students like his own': Adored teacher loses cancer battle

06 Oct 05:30 PM

Iwi trust takes over Fenton St hotel to help homeless

24 Sep 10:00 PM
New Zealand

Tension with Dame Kiri, affairs with women: Son's 'raw' book on Sir Howard Morrison's life

20 Oct 06:13 AM

Dead for 11 minutes: Two shocks and he came back to life

16 Oct 04:17 PM

Our tourism and hospitality sectors obviously rely on visitors, but if they have nowhere to sleep, they won't come and the trickle-down impact on the business sector would be devastating.

Fewer beds aside, we have to ensure those who do come to our region are given the best possible experience.

It's important visitors aren't put off by the emergency housing clients staying on the Fenton St strip who have been causing Rotorua police and Glenholme residents crime woes in recent months.

Everyone needs to be on their best behaviour to portray our areas to guests in the best possible light.

The region looks set to put on a fantastic long weekend and the weather should play ball.

In Tauranga we have Vegan Vibes, the Bay of Plenty Steamers playing Canterbury, Bic Runga hitting the stage and plenty of markets.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

In Rotorua, there's the popular Blues Festival, the Whaka 100 mountain bike race, Lake Tarawera's Spring Fair and the ever-fun Tough Guy & Gal Challenge.

Domestic visitors are the new gold, let's turn it on and give them the time of their lives - that's if they've found somewhere to rest their heads.

Save

    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

Latest from Rotorua Daily Post

Rotorua Daily Post

'Hot-box' murder: Accused says rival gang bigger issue than patched member's theft

17 Jun 07:00 AM
Rotorua Daily Post

CCTV of rider released after blind, deaf cancer survivor struck in hit-and-run

17 Jun 04:05 AM
Rotorua Daily Post

'Walk away enriched': How to celebrate Matariki in Rotorua

17 Jun 04:00 AM

Jono and Ben brew up a tea-fuelled adventure in Sri Lanka

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Rotorua Daily Post

'Hot-box' murder: Accused says rival gang bigger issue than patched member's theft

'Hot-box' murder: Accused says rival gang bigger issue than patched member's theft

17 Jun 07:00 AM

Defence counsel says Mark Hohua died after falling on to concrete steps while fleeing.

CCTV of rider released after blind, deaf cancer survivor struck in hit-and-run

CCTV of rider released after blind, deaf cancer survivor struck in hit-and-run

17 Jun 04:05 AM
'Walk away enriched': How to celebrate Matariki in Rotorua

'Walk away enriched': How to celebrate Matariki in Rotorua

17 Jun 04:00 AM
‘I’ve been put up on the shelf’: Temuera Morrison laments Star Wars limbo

‘I’ve been put up on the shelf’: Temuera Morrison laments Star Wars limbo

17 Jun 03:16 AM
Help for those helping hardest-hit
sponsored

Help for those helping hardest-hit

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Rotorua Daily Post e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Rotorua Daily Post
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP