Thank you to the concerned inmates that have contacted us to check we are still in business following the Covid-19 scare. These are all trout anglers worried about their future planning for 2021.

TRM will survive. Like most other tourist accommodation businesses, SWMBO (She Who Must Be Obeyed is the Mnager of everything at TRM) has had to tighten Her belt and look at ways of reducing expenses to match the drop in occupancy and room rates. In order to keep the housekeeping staff employed, She has made me redundant instead. Smart lady!

So I am taking the opportunity to try to get fit enough for more bike rides on some of the more interesting and challenging bike trails developed around the North Island, starting with the Coast to Coast – from the Bay of Islands to the Hokianga Harbour in December. To inspire me, the images are from 2006 when we started from Cape Reinga on the Great NZ Trek. But I digress…

Overall results from MBIE (Ministry of Business , Innovation & Employment) show that there were an estimated 2.8 million guest nights recorded in core tourism accommodation properties in October 2020 (including managed isolation and quarantine guests), representing an average occupancy rate of 44% for available stay units.

TRM just survived by reducing longer-term room rates for fishos as a survival strategy to maintain occupancy levels.

We are still receiving bookings from the West Island for February & March 2021, in anticipation of border restrictions being lifted by then, but only time will tell.

Based on provisional estimates, around 9% of core tourism accommodation properties in NZ were closed or had no guests during October. This is due to a combination of seasonal closures and the effects of Covid-19 on guest numbers. The proportion of inactive properties was lowest among holiday parks and campgrounds at 3%.

An estimated 94% of all guest nights were domestic travellers in October.