Central Otago’s summer has many smiling as numbers of people visiting and locals exploring brings a positive start to 2022.

Although visitor numbers are not yet in for the Christmas period, the amount of people who had enjoyed everything Central Otago had to offer over that time has been pleasing.

Tourism Central Otago general manager Dylan Rushbrook said the response to the new Lake Dunstan Cycle & Walking Trail had been “overwhelmingly positive”.

The 54km trail opened in May last year, a year after construction began.

It follows the true right of Lake Dunstan, linking Cromwell and Clyde, and is available to both cyclists and walkers.

“People are just loving it and having the best experience.” Dylan says.

"Various food and beverage options were available along the way, which had added a different dimension to the experience.

“It is extraordinary to go through that landscape, experience the engineering feats that have made it possible and enjoy a coffee, burger, pizza or wine.

He said other highlights included the cantilevered bridges, swing bridge and the views, which had received “big attention” across social media.

Cantilevered bridges, a swing bridge and the views are among the highlights people are enjoying on the Lake Dunstan Trail.

“There is no doubt in my mind, this trail is quickly becoming an icon of the national cycle trail network,” Dylan said.

"Future network expansion, which will enable people to cycle from Queenstown or Wanaka and on to Clyde, meant cycling will become more popular across Otago.

“We are very fortunate to have such incredible riding experiences right throughout Central Otago and that will only get better over time.”

“With Covid-19 impacts we weren’t entirely sure what to expect, but even without the hard datasets and judging just by supermarket queues and the buzz across the district, I am pretty happy with how things have gone.”

It was also too early to determine what the holiday spend was, but domestic visitor spend for October 2021 was 19% higher than October 2020 and 39% higher than October 2019.

Central Otago business owners had also welcomed a busy summer.

A spokeswoman for Coffee Afloat had limited time to chat when contacted by The Central App due to the businesses popularity.

She said summer had been “good, busy and nice”.

Naseby’s Royal Hotel owners Jan Rutherford and Adrian Hood have also had a busy summer hosting families and locals alike.

Hot days had helped, they said.

“I think at the end of the day the weather has been fantastic which, in turn, results in happy holiday makers.

"The previous summer was extremely wet and a boil water notice was put in place, which lasted for a month.

"This summer has been the complete opposite - hot and dry, which was great for business and leisure.

It is regarded as a “summer like we all remember from our childhood”.

“Barbecues were being cooked, kids were riding their bikes and people were enjoying a cold beer or wine either on the deck or in the garden bar at the Royal Hotel.”

Adrian and Jan said many people were cautious at the start, due to Covid-19, but once they got into the habit of showing vaccine passes, they relaxed and “playing by the rules didn’t seem so bad”. 

New Year’s Eve was a highlight where families gathered and danced in the street to live music

Adrian and Jan also noticed generations of families holidaying together, more so than in other years. 

“For us it’s all about “ friends, family and food and that’s what it came down to.”

Overall Adrian and Jan were more than happy with their trading over summer, so far.

The Gate Cromwell general manager Glen Christiansen was also pleased with how summer trade was tracking.

He said in terms of customer numbers, this summer was on par with previous years.

“Although accommodation has been patchy, food and beverage had a strong 10 days.”

He said overall the business had experienced a positive vibe.

“Unfortunately, the only negative was the verbal altercation in regards to masks and the keyboard warriors who were part of that. We are a mandated industry . . . remember it is nice to be nice,” he said.

In Roxburgh Sally Smith from 103 The Store said she has had a very busy summer, in particular between Xmas and New Year.

"We as many other businesses in the Teviot Valley have experienced good trading along with definitely being up over this period from previous years, this is very encouraging and especially for hospitality." Sally says,

"Both the Café and our retail store have been super busy, which we have been very grateful for"

 And while we are required to be more cautious with life at Red, there is defiantly a sense of 'we've got this' and an understanding that we need to approach local businesses and people with respect and kindness.