Tourism gets a lift off Lions
New Plymouth’s hotels and bars are getting an unexpected boost from Lions fans venturing into the regions, lifting business at a traditionally quiet time of year.
The city attracted a steady stream of red-shirted supporters between test matches during the past fortnight, with British and Irish rugby fans keen to see what Taranaki had to offer.
Peggy Gordon’s Celtic Bar duty manager Sharyn Smith said extra staff were called in on Monday to serve a large crowd of Lions supporters.
‘‘We cooked around 60 to 70 meals on Monday. It was a very busy night which is normally a quiet time for us,’’ she said.
‘‘We have had a steady flow of fans coming in to eat and drink throughout the week.’’
Most of the fans were older couples, she said.
‘‘They’re well behaved and enjoying themselves singing the anthems and watching replays of the tests.
‘‘It’s great for business and for the city.’’
King and Queen Hotel Suites manager Daniel Fleming said around 10 to 12 couples following the tour made late bookings at the boutique hotel.
‘‘They skipped the mid-week regional games to spend time seeing the rest of the country,’’ he said.
‘‘They are pretty energetic and ‘high end’ travellers who are not on a tight budget.
‘‘We didn’t expect to have Lions fans staying but it is awesome to have them here.’’
English couple Yan and Gabby Mallett said they combined the rugby tour with a ‘‘once in a life- time’’ six month holiday through Asia, Australia and United States.
The couple, from Buckingham, had never seen the Lions play, and only once witnessed an All Black test, at Twickenham.
‘‘We’ve always wanted to see the Lions play because it would always cost a fortune to follow a tour so we started planning five years ago,’’ Yan, a teacher and rugby coach, said.
The couple budgeted £30,000 pounds, approximately NZ$53,000, for the six month holiday using a combination of backpackers, hotels and camp sites.
The couple were on their way to Auckland after driving their campervan to New Plymouth from Wellington after seeing the Lions second test win.
They planned to stay at Fitzroy Motor Camp for two nights before heading to Auckland for the final test.
They were going to bike the coastal walkway, visit Egmont National Park and sample a few restaurants and cafes.
‘‘We try and stick to a budget of around NZ$100 a day, excluding fuel and accommodation costs,’’ Yan said.
They had seen a good share of the North Island in between the rugby tests and before New Plymouth they had ticked off Coromandel, Gisborne, and Napier as well as smaller towns along the route.
A GPS malfunction in their van had directed them by mistake over the remote back country State Highway 49, or the Gentle Annie, between Napier and Taihape.
‘‘We didn’t see a soul for hours, except a herd of cows in the middle of the road in the middle of nowhere.’’ Thursday, July 6, 2017 taranakidailynews.co.nz