11 October 2022
Media: Rotorua Daily Post
Topic: Upcoming events and accommodation demand
Enquiry
I'm working on a story to forecast the accommodation supply and demand over the next few event weekends as thousands of visitors are expected to flock to Rotorua.
To help our readers' understanding, I was hoping you would be able to help by providing attributable comment in response to these questions:
- What is the council's expectation of the attendance at Whaka 100, Crankworx and the Six60 concert this year?
- What level of revenue have these events provided to Rotorua in the past? What are you hoping for this year?
It would be most helpful if attributable comment in response to these questions could be provided before end of business on Monday, 10 October.
The reporter also sought the following from RotoruaNZ:
- When the Rotorua Insights Dashboard graph shows commercial accommodation demand at 0.93 is this the same as saying commercial accommodation is 93 per cent booked?
- How would you explain these numbers in a way our readers could understand?
- What do these numbers mean for Rotorua's accommodation industry during those big event weekends?
- Do you think Rotorua has enough rooms to meet the demand for accommodation during those times?
What is and is not included in this data? How is it gathered?
Response
In initially responding to acknowledge we had received the reporter’s enquiry we also provided the following info/guidance:
Re accommodation demand and supply, we suggest you contact our CCO RotoruaNZ which will have insight into this. They would also have insight re benefits to Rotorua of these events and events in general.
The Whaka 100 organisers should be able to give you an idea of anticipated economic benefit to Rotorua of their event. The event website is HERE and looks to have a ‘contact’ portal.
Re Crankworx, the Daily Post ran a story in July about the economic benefits of this event to Rotorua so you already have that information to use: Crankworx returns to Rotorua, bringing with it visitors from near and far - NZ Herald
We subsequently also sent the following fromRotorua Lakes Council’s, Director of Events, Joelene Elliott:
“We are looking forward to hosting many events in Rotorua over the next few months, including the Whaka100, Crankworx and Six60. All of these events have been impacted by Covid-19 restrictions over the last few years and you can feel the excitement when working with the organisers to finally be able to deliver the events.
“Planning is well underway for the upcoming Six60 concert where we are expecting to host thousands of fans at the Rotorua Stadium. Six60 last performed here in 2012 and it’s been a while since Rotorua has hosted a concert of this calibre and size.
“There’s been lots of interest from both local fans and fans from out of town which is great for Rotorua. Tickets are still available for the Rotorua concert for those wanting to attend.”
RotoruaNZ provided the following information from Justin Kimberley, Research and Insights Manager RotoruaNZ
Q1: Not exactly. The holiday homes is an actual representation of occupancy (i.e. 93% of available properties are booked). Commercial accommodation is slightly different in that it is a based on a proprietary algorithm from tourism data specialists, AIC, which uses information from OTAs (online travel agents) and factors such as pricing and availability to provide a composite index of overall demand, not just current booked occupancy. This is why it is called a ‘demand index’ instead of ‘occupancy rate’.
Q2: These numbers demonstrate that demand for accommodation in Rotorua remains strong and there are significant bookings for these key event weekends. As an example, for Whaka100 weekend, 83% of all available holiday homes (Airbnb/Bookabach, etc.) are currently booked and demand for commercial accommodation is currently 0.93 out of a maximum of 1. With 10 days left to go we can expect the city to be at near maximum occupancy by the time the weekend arrives.
Q3: Rotorua has a history of selling out of rooms for long weekends and large events therefore it’s not surprising to see high demand for upcoming large events, especially those with two events (e.g. Six60 and Crankworx). In both cases we can expect the city will likely be very close to 100% occupancy and hence good new for the accommodation sector and hospitality sector more broadly.
Q4: The data suggests that there is still some availability over the key event weekends. As above though, in the past, Rotorua has sold out of rooms. To your question about having enough rooms, the latest MBIE Accommodation Data Programme statistics show that Rotorua’s average occupancy rate in August was 38.3% (see screenshot below) suggesting that while there are key crunch times, we have plenty of rooms available.
Q5: The data is provided by tourism data specialists, AIC, who compile the data from OTAs (online travel agents) and P2P booking platforms (Airbnb, Bookabach, etc.) Data is collected at a location level to give an all of market view of accommodation capacity and future demand.
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Media: Maori TV
Topic: Lakefront concessions
Enquiry
Te Ao Mārama Māori TV are broadcasting a Story on a couple from Ohinemutu who are running their caravan coffee business (Mana Motukawhe- Koha Kawhe) from their property but want to move to a lake front location to sell coffees. They have had no communication from Council and are upset why the process is taking so long.
Could I get a response from Council on this issue please. Hopefully someone to front camera this Weds 12th Oct before 1pm?
Questions:
1) Can Mana Motukawhe put their business at the lakefront?
2) What is he process?
3) What are the costs to put a coffee business at the lakefront?
4) Why is it taking so long to respond to this whānau?
5) Where to next for this whānau?
Response
The following information was provided:
A council staff member spoke to a representative of Mana Motukawhe yesterday (10 October) regarding an enquiry about authorisation to undertake commercial activity at Kuirau Park, Puarenga Park and the lakefront.
He was advised he could apply for a concession to operate at Kuirau Park and/or Puarenga Park.
He was also advised that at this time there are two concessions for businesses to operate at the lakefront which are already in place following a tender process. He was informed that further concessions may be considered once the redevelopment that is still currently underway at the lakefront is complete and that Mana Motukawhe would be added to the list of interested parties for any potential future tender process.
We will continue to deal directly with Mana Motukawhe rather than via the media regarding any applications they may submit.