Whangamatā beach on the Coromandel Peninsula.
Photo: 123RF

Destination Hauraki Coromandel says New Zealanders seem to have forgotten how good the peninsula is.

General manager Hadley Dryden said bad weather, media attention on closed roads, and a perception of the area as a beach destination, meant the region was the worst performing area for visitor spend this year.

“The New Zealand tourism industry is recovering from [Covid], and to be affected by the storms in January, has just put us completely on the back-foot.”

Dryden points to the measure of electronic card transactions for how bad things are.

“Hauraki Coromandel, for each month of the year, has been the worst performing region. While the rest of New Zealand is increasing in spend, measured by electronic card transactions for each month, Hauraki Coromandel is actually going backwards.”

Dryden said tourism was hugely significant for the region, helping to employ one in five people.

The revenue brought in by visitors helped keep small ratepayer districts like Thames Coromandel ticking over, he said.

“In the good years we’d generate over 500 million [dollars] in visitor spend.”

Destination Coromandel has launched a ‘Winter Our Way’ campaign to remind people that the area was still accessible.

Dryden said the ring road around the peninsula was open, you just had to slow down a bit – but that that was the best way to experience the Coromandel anyway.