People enjoying the sun at Lake Tikitapu (Blue Lake). Photo / NZME
Rotorua tourism operators swamped with unexpectedly high visitor numbers have been "busy, busy, busy" but despite the boom, some are now bracing for a hit.
Since Christmas, people have flocked to Rotorua, helping to buoy the tourism market after what has been described as a "depressingly dead" time due to Covid-19 uncertainty and restrictions. But there are concerns the thriving market will be "short-lived" once the holiday season is over.
Canopy Tours general manager Paul Button said the sales have been strong from Boxing Day and he was surprised how busy they had been considering how hot it was.
"It's been good to be busier than expected because it's been really hard to know what to expect."
However, the sales were lower than last year which was down to them having fewer tours available with 10 fewer staff coming into this year compared with last, he said.
"We didn't have the confidence to gear up to employ people."
As of next week last year, Button said the numbers dropped off, making February and March the worst months for sales.
He believed there would be group, school and corporate demand early this year with many cancellations last year throughout the vaccine rulings.
"To all the Kiwis that are travelling, thank you very, very much, and we look forward to your continued support as the year goes on."
Rotorua Rafting owner Sam Sutton said most customers have been people who moved to New Zealand and were experiencing the adventure sport for the first time, which was awesome to see.
"Prior to Christmas was depressingly dead but we're all on at the moment."
Leading up to the holiday, the rafting had 20 per cent sales compared with pre-Covid and down to 40 per cent on last year.
He said the "amazing" weather had been good for them.
Temperatures have ranged from 20C to 28C since Christmas with sunshine every day.
"We're having some of the best days we've seen, just over the last week. It's awesome, but it will be short-lived," Sutton said.
The numbers would "drop away rapidly" when people went back to work, he said, while pre-Covid, backpackers and travellers got them through to Easter.
The business was expanding with a zipline at Okere Falls expected to open in February and their energy would be put towards that, he said.
He said the rafting would potentially be slowed down during winter if it was less viable.
Secret Spot co-owner Keith Kolver said evening hot tubs had been surprisingly popular given the heat, and more so than last summer.
It had also seen the many mountain bikers that came down for a beer after time on the tracks.
He said it had been a good summer, especially after people had spent their time with families and he was happy with the numbers coming through.
"If Auckland decided to stay at home, it would've been very different."
However, like the others, he was expecting numbers to drop next week.
It was a different story for accommodation, which was looking good for a while.
Blue Lake Top 10 Holiday Park operations manager Kelsi Hira said they had been fully booked since December 27 as they have been every other year. It was a welcomed surprise with no idea what to expect; whether people would be too scared to travel or were desperate to get out of Auckland.
She said the rest of summer was looking "really positive" and the Auckland Anniversary and Waitangi weekends were likely to be full, too.
"We were a little bit concerned coming out of lockdown as we didn't have the bookings we would have, but as soon as Aucklanders were told they could travel, all our empty spaces filled up."
Hari said Kiwis tend to wait and see what the weather is doing before they book but they were lucky the whole summer had been great so far.
Lake Rotoiti Holiday Park manager Tania Disher said it's been "busy, busy, busy" and her phone rang what felt like non-stop with inquiries from midday to 6pm daily.
The site had been fully booked from Boxing Day and people started leaving yesterday but the rest of the summer was still looking good.
She believed this was largely due to people wanting to get out of Auckland and Waikato and get out on to the water.
Happy Angler Store and Takeaways said it was too hot for holidaymakers to grab some fish and chips, but the ice creams have been flying out the door.
People dropping in were either on their way to or from Rotorua.
While business was starting to pick up, the numbers weren't what they were in previous years, and would likely drop next week, he said.
Gelato Mio manager Vinne Yang said the number of sales depended on the weather, but the sunshine meant an average of 150 to 200 ice creams were sold a day.
She said it wasn't as busy as the same time last year, but business was going well.