"We had a group of guys over the weekend ... there must've been about seven of them drinking the pricey cocktails all night long. They don't have kids and they have got money to spend, which was evident as they spent about three or four hours drinking the top-shelf wine."
Council public-relations adviser Rex Moore said Destination Rotorua did not have statistics on the value of the wedding business, same-sex or otherwise, and said weddings and gay tourism were not currently a major focus of its marketing effort or marketing expenditure.
Queenstown, by comparison, markets itself as a gay-friendly venue, promoting events such as Gay Ski Week QT, which saw nearly 1500 tickets sold for eight events.
Destination Queenstown did not have a figure on the value of the pink dollar, but Gay Ski Week organiser Sally Whitewoods said the industry was lucrative.
"We estimated from customer surveys that the average spend was $250 per person, per day, excluding accommodation, ski hire and lift passes."
Queenstown Wedding Association president Sarah Arkin said same-sex weddings were on the rise, with 200 of the 800 weddings held last year for same-sex couples. Many had come from Australia, where gay marriage was still illegal.
She said the association targets the same-sex wedding market, who tend to spend more per person.
"Though same-sex marriages generally have fewer people attending, they tend to be dual-income families with more disposable income. The smaller groups also tend to spend a lot more per person, and are more likely to engage in activities in the destination - so it has a very positive knock-on effect for tourism too."
Rotorua woman Karen Harvey-Griggs said Rotorua would benefit from the same-sex wedding market and she was working to promote Rotorua as a wedding destination online.
Mrs Harvey-Griggs manages the Waikuta Lakeside Lodge and Retreat.
"It is untapped but I think it's largely due to the fact that there isn't a venue and there's not a great deal of marketing there. Rotorua is a great destination for everyone."
She said same-sex couples faced some difficulties when arranging a wedding here, such as finding a celebrant to perform a same-sex wedding ceremony.
"It is a policy in law and an entitlement. This [the same-sex wedding market] is potentially explosive."
Tauranga-based celebrant Wendy Barton said she had performed weddings in Rotorua, after couples struggled to find a local celebrant who would perform a same-sex wedding.
"I have done a few weddings in Rotorua. We do have some [celebrants] who are adamantly against it.
Queenstown celebrant Philippa Cook performed 13 same-sex weddings this year.
We asked some Rotorua celebrants if they would marry same-sex couples:
Tak Mutu "Absolutely yes, but I have never been asked."
Terry Morrison: "I have never been asked. It wouldn't bother me, we are in the 21st century, we need to wake up and smell the roses."
Grahame Hall "I have never been asked. I have no major objection to it. I think marriage is really important and if those people want to get married it doesn't matter if they are the same sex."
Carole Guld: "I have married two same-sex couples this year, a female and a male couple."
William Cleghorn: "I probably would not [marry same-sex couples]. I have thought about it on occasion and made inquiries to make sure there was no compulsion." Rotorua is missing out on the "Pink Dollar" - the purchasing power of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community - and the same-sex wedding market, experts say.
