‘Please come and see us’: Coromandel businesses devastated as Waitangi weekend washed out
What was meant to be one of the biggest weekends of summer has flat-lined for businesses in Whangamata¯ and Whitianga on the Coromandel Peninsula, where slips have closed arterial routes.
Tourism, hospitality and accommodation providers have been devastated by the loss of customers.
For some, Waitangi weekend trade has been half the level of this time last year.
It follows a spree of weather events which caused widespread damage across the ThamesCoromandel District, closing off highways and reducing others to one-lane traffic. The most significant issue is the closure of State Highway 25a after the road essentially disappeared in a slip.
Recovering from the impacts of the pandemic was already on the minds of business owners, but some were now considering the worst – pivoting their business or even finding alternative employment.
For the team at Surfsup New Zealand in Whangamata¯ , the start of the long weekend was spent sifting through a lot of cancellations.
Instead of earning this weekend, manager/director Mauro Dal Bosco and his partner had been arranging refunds.
‘‘We were expecting a lot of customers to come through for Waitangi weekend which is usually pretty busy but . . . a lot of people didn’t even come to Whangamata¯ ,’’ Dal Bosco said.
‘‘It definitely made me consider that we might have to get other jobs.’’
The Thames-Coromandel District had been riddled with a series of road closures and partial opening of other routes.
SH25 Thames Coast Road between Waiomu and Ruamahunga had closed due to a major rockfall last week and SH25a from Kopu-Hikuai was cut off for the foreseeable future after cracks in the important Coromandel route had developed into a colossal landslide which was still moving.
All they could do was ‘‘sit and wait’’ Dal Bosco said.
Surfsup derives most of its income during summer and needed visitors to come when things cleared up.
‘‘February could be good, it might make up for some of those losses, you never know, we’re hoping for the best. Please come and see us.’’
The uncertainty of the situation troubled Fred Bayer from Peninsula Motel in Whitianga.
Marketing to travellers was difficult when there was no clue as to when the roads would open or what the weather would do next. The motel had lost most of its bookings.
‘‘We were full, and now we’re not,’’ he said.
‘‘[A] summer concert was on too, and that was cancelled, so that eliminated all our long weekend bookings, so basically it’s now the odd bookings . . . it’s had a major impact.’’
January was usually the busiest calendar month for Soul Burger in Whangamata¯ , but it was holding out for better weather this month, during what had become a long and ‘‘really tough’’ summer.
‘‘We’re probably 50% capacity in sales compared to the same time last year,’’ owner Pip Simmons said.
She said there had been no warning that the two biggest weekends, Auckland Anniversary and Waitangi, would be ‘‘non-starters’’.
During summer they stocked
up financially to get ready for winter, when people head down south instead for the ski season.
On Friday afternoon, ThamesCoromandel District Council had also declared a state of emergency.
Simmons said this was another blow deterring travellers and was ‘‘completely unnecessary’’.
‘‘You’re keeping your head high after a really bad new year . . . it’s tough, it’s really tough.’’
‘‘A lot of people didn’t even come to Whangamata¯. It definitely made me consider that we might have to get other jobs.’’
Mauro Dal Bosco