Tourism operators optimistic as hotspots prepare for busy Easter weekend

Tourism hotspots around the country are preparing for a busy Easter long weekend after a rough 12 months.

Bookabach is reporting that most popular destinations are nearly sold out ahead of the upcoming break.

Before the pandemic, Aoraki Mt Cook Alpine Lodge was running annually at about 94 percent occupancy, with international visitors making up most of their market.

Owner Tony Delaney said they took a big hit when borders closed.

But they had been well supported by New Zealanders and had received further support from the government's wage subsidy and concession fee freeze, he said.

And now they were looking forward to a busy Easter.

"I think the village is pretty much booked out. I just checked online (on Tuesday night) and most of the other operators are full or near to it," Delaney said.

But that had presented a few challenges.

"When you're running at capacity, we haven't been able to fully staff these operations mainly because there's just not the people out there or the people don't want to come to these remote locations.

"Our business has become a Saturday night business really so it's full on Saturday nights and then the rest of the week's a bit ho hum, so it's been a bit of a challenge in that respect."

But April would bring a welcome boost of morale and income with Easter long weekend, the trans-Tasman bubble date announcement and school holidays, Delaney said.

Bookabach travel expert Simone Scoppa said New Zealanders had been busy booking up holiday homes for the long weekend.

"This upcoming Easter long weekend is really shaping up to be a sold out situation with most towns across the country down to the very last available booking," Scoppa said.

"So it's great news for the tourism industry and is very welcome for all the tourism operators out there."

Bookabach figures showed Queenstown had more than 200 holiday homes still available when it would usually be nearly booked out.

iFly Indoor Skydiving Queenstown managing director Matt Wong said that was not surprising as it takes a lot to fill up Queenstown.

"It's not necessarily an indicator of how successful our Easter will be at this stage. We also know that our domestic market is always late bookers, they book with a very short lead in time," Wong said.

"We don't know what we're getting until we get it so forecasting ahead is very difficult."

Forward bookings had picked up recently and other operators were quietly optimistic, he said.

"Probably for about the last fortnight or so we've been seeing some really positive signs for Easter. We're probably looking at around about a third so around 30 odd percent full at this stage, knowing full well that it comes in on the day."

Earlier this month, a business confidence survey from the Queenstown Chamber of Commerce found nearly a third of businesses in the resort town were not expecting to survive the next three months.

But there was more hope of a trans-Tasman bubble now, Wong said.

"There's a little bit more optimism now out there so I think for businesses now where they were hanging on by their fingertips and there was a lot more uncertainty back then.

"I think now if they've held on this long they'll trade through April, see where they sit in terms of the cash flow towards the end of April, and hopefully by that stage, we'll have a clear date for the Australians coming across."

Dianne Walsh owns the Lakefront Lodge Te Anau where bookings have been rolling in ahead of Easter.

"We're fully booked," she said.

"It's as it should be, it's just taken longer to get those bookings."

Southland Anniversary is on Easter Tuesday. So far, Walsh had a few available rooms on the Monday.

Traditionally, holiday home owners will come and shut up for winter.

Other businesses around Te Anau were looking busy, too, which would be a relief for the town, she said.

Traditionally, the Easter long weekend is the last of the peak season for Hanmer Springs before heading into winter.

Hanmer Springs Thermal Pools and Spa sales and marketing manager Shane Adcock said the town was shaping up to be busier this Easter than previous years.

"Just some confidence for the business owners that they've got that cash flow in there behind them and that their business is still well-loved, still viable," Adcock said.

"Just provides some hope, some foundation for the winter and then heading into spring so obviously a good cash injection. But also just some real confidence."

Driving Creek in the Coromandel offers railway and zipline tours with both usually hosting between 30 and 50 percent of international visitors

Executive director Neil Oppatt was expecting a strong Easter too.

"We go into our winter low period. Coromandel is a beach destination and traditionally it's slim pickings on the Coromandel through winter so Easter's about doing as well as we can to carry us through winter," Oppatt said.

Tourism operators are keenly awaiting news on the trans-Tasman bubble date set to be announced on Tuesday.