Tourist numbers began to bounce back over the summer, with South Island businesses particularly benefiting from stable and sunny weather. Photo: 123RF
Summer tourist numbers have bounced back to about half of what they were before Covid-19 as Aotearoa marked the first summer with the border back open.
Overall, New Zealand welcomed close to 900,000 visitors - that is about two thirds of the numbers before the pandemic and includes people visiting friends and whānau.
For the tourism industry, it was a welcome reprieve after a tumultuous few years, but the summer was not without hurdles.
Tourism New Zealand chief executive René de Monchy did not expect the summer to go quite so well.
"We're at about 50 percent of what we use to be so [that's] pretty significant, certainly when you compare that to the year prior.
"So what you've seen as an overall picture is all regions have benefited over the summer with increased international visitors."
Tourists were getting out into the regions.
"We see Wānaka, Rotorua, Northland, Coromandel were the main areas that saw an increased share of international visitors, whilst some regions actually saw their share decline versus historical figures, and those regions are Auckland, Waikato and Canterbury."
While Te Waipounamu had benefited from sunny, stable weather, many in the North Island had faced a disrupted summer with Cyclone Gabrielle, high winds and storms, de Monchy said.
"They've been severely impacted, firstly with not a particularly good summer and then with the storms in late January and February.
"We have seen that have an impact to the extent that activities have been cancelled on the day."
In Northland, Ahipara Horse Treks manager Selena Anderson said it did not feel like they had had a summer.
Ordinarily, they would host five to six tours a day, for groups of up to 10 people, over the season.
Last summer, they considered three treks a day busy - despite a boost from international tourists, Anderson said.
"Mainly I guess due to the weather and maybe people running low on finances, we've just had a really bad summer.
"The calendar would look all right sometimes and then you just get a whole lot of cancellations because people have cancelled their camping trips altogether because the weather was bad or they couldn't get here because of the road."
The weather meant that some weeks they could not go out at all, but Anderson remained hopeful they would have better days ahead.
Down south, Wanaka Water Taxi owner-operator Krystle Theunissen was delighted at how well the summer had gone.
"We've doubled pre-Covid. Awesome feeling, I'm exhausted too, but awesome."
The last few years had been tough, she said, with her partner in hospital and lots of hard work for little reward.
But they were both back on deck and excited to see so many New Zealanders and international tourists coming through.
"We've just been doing everything ourselves, so it's been full on and a lot of work. But at least it's paying off now so that's the difference - that you're actually seeing the business growing at the same time."
They would be staying open in May for the first time, before closing over winter.
She already has more bookings for next season than she has ever had pre-booked by this time of the year.
In Ōtautahi, Āmiki Tours offers guided walks in the city, sharing kai and Māori - European history.
Lead guide Riwai Grace said the summer was better than expected.
"We probably went from one tour a week to at least two a day, and we went from smaller groups of one or two people, where at the moment we're getting some groups of up to 16."
It had been a big morale boost.
"It made a real difference for us, for people coming to hear our stories, share our stories and then share food with them, and then create real connections.
"We felt quite blessed that we can do what we do, but also the opportunity with the borders being open and being given a chance to actually showcase our city."
Tourism New Zealand said it had been a stronger-than-expected return, but the recovery was beginning to plateau.