Summer critical for coastal businesses

The Coromandel tourism industry is counting on a busy summer after being cut off from its biggest spenders for three months.

Hauraki and Coromandel experienced one of the largest decreases in visitor spend across the country with a near $26 million loss between August and October.

Destination Coromandel general manager Hadley Dryden said while locals kept businesses afloat, the economy was harshly affected while Auckland and Hamilton visitors were unable to get into the district.

Now this summer will be critical to the survival of many businesses, he said.

‘‘The 34 per cent decline has been hard on businesses in the district who rely on people coming out of town,’’ Hadley said.

‘‘This coming summer will be critical to tourism, hospitality and retail businesses throughout the region, which rely heavily on seasonal summer revenue for survival even in strong pre-Covid years.’’

In 2020, Covid-19 led to a $50m drop in visitor spend in the Coromandel for March and April, taking the district’s total spend to the lowest it had been in two years.

This came after the Coromandel tourism industry had grown by $200m in the last decade.

While this year’s lockdown wasn’t as dire due to the district moving into level two relatively early, the coast is still feeling the pressure, Hadley said.

It’s likely the shoulder seasons will become more important than ever, he said.

‘‘The earnings businesses make over summer often support them for the rest of the year.’’

‘‘We are hopeful they will get that boost over December and early January, but beyond that is still uncertain.’’