Taranaki among bach break top spots

Taranaki is one of the top 10 destinations for people to rent a beach bach for the summer - and one of the more expensive.

The country’s most popular spots to rent a holiday pad have been unveiled by Bookabach, with Taranaki ranked in eight place.

Coromandel and Lake Taupo topped the chart, at an average cost per night of $323 and $431 respectively.

Renting in Taranaki, however, would set punters back, on average, $467 a night.

The rankings are based on booking data from December 22,

2017 to January 7, 2018. Coromandel won top spot, with

1034 bookings and an average stay of six nights. Lake Taupo was next in line, with 705 bookings and an average stay of five nights.

Marlborough baches were the most expensive, averaging $521 per night, but the southern getaway still took out tenth place.

‘‘You’ve got a permanent population of about 29,000 and it explodes to 100 to 150,000 each summer usually.

‘‘The police are saying there have been record numbers this time,’’ Thames-Coromandel Mayor Sandra Goudie said.

‘‘You’ve got your surf on one side and you’ve got your lake-type seaside on the other so it caters to all different age groups.’’

Taupo¯ ’s popularity was helped by its close proximity to the city hubs of the central North Island, Taupo¯ mayor David Trewavas

said. ‘‘It’s easy to get to Taupo¯ from north, south, east and west.

‘‘It’s a great sort of family destination, mum dad and two kids is what we like to attract. And there are so many things to do that are not that expensive or free of charge.’’

Eastern North Island beach and lake spots - just short drives from the bustling cities of Auckland, Hamilton and Tauranga - were the unchallenged favourites, according to Bookabach.

‘‘Lake and beach escapes continue to be the most popular holidays booked by Kiwis this summer,’’ spokeswoman Simone McDermid said.

‘‘Interestingly, over half of the holidays booked online this summer on Bookabach were sometimes more than six months ahead of the planned holiday.

‘‘Only 10 per cent of Kiwis booked their holidays online last minute.’’