Lions' hunger pangs rush tourism operators off their feet

Mecca Kebabs owner Ayhan Semiz has been rushed off his feet, thanks to the late night hunger pangs of Lions supporters.
A second wave of thousands of Lions supporters has been flooding Rotorua, following their team north for the final test against the All Blacks tonight.
The city streets have been clogged with campervans and every bar and cafe in town has been filled with Lions fans, many dressed in their now-familiar red and blue jackets and rugby jerseys.
Many of the tourists are tipped to be staying in the city over the coming weekend, despite the Auckland test, and many are expected to return next week.
"We don't see so much of them during the day, but it is a part of the English culture to have a kebab after a certain hour," Mr Semiz said. "They really love their kebabs."
He has been kept busy serving hordes of customers as late as 2am and 3am during the past week. Normally on a week night he would be lucky to sell 50 kebabs. This week it was more like 150 a night.
"The night of the match against Bay of Plenty was also very good. I was open until 7am after that night."
O'Malleys Irish Bar owner Terry Meagher said the Lions fans had also been kind to his business. On an average Wednesday night he would pour up to 150 pints of beer but estimated it was 350 to 400 this week.
"And that's just the pints. The one complaint we have had from them is that there is nowhere open if they want to have a meal later in the evening. They will drink until about 10.30pm and then leave to go and have a feed, but there is nowhere for them to go.
"We made allowances for them, but it seems most of the restaurants have not," said Mr Meagher.
Destination Rotorua general manager Don Gunn said the influx was likely to continue next week, when tour parties would be travelling independently.
"The Lions supporters who have arrived here want to stay for as long as they can, simply because there is so much for them to do here. It's hard to put a figure on just how much they are adding to the Rotorua economy ... we will be surveying our hoteliers and business operators to get a feel of how well it has gone for them," he said.
Holdens Bay Top 10 Holiday Park owner Ernest Albertyn said every evening this week his business was a sea of mobile homes and campervans at a usually quiet time of year.
"This second wave of them coming through has been very good for us. There are more of them now than when the [Bay of Plenty] game was on," he said.
"There have been advantages for everybody. We have been working very hard and have gained some extra nights [of the tourists staying here] by showing them all the activities available."
On Wednesday night there were more than 40 campervans at the holiday park.
Te Puia chief executive Andrew Te Whaiti said "thousands upon thousands" of Lion supporters had been streaming through the gates of the geothermal tourist attraction during what was traditionally a quiet period.
"It's all hands to the pumps with staff working overtime to cope," he said.