While the North Island may have had a tough holiday run this year, it's been a bumper summer season for the South Island's West Coast.
Figures show visitor spending in December was higher in 2022 than it was pre-pandemic, topping $21 million last month.
And it was another busy weekend just gone in Hokitika, with the annual Driftwood and Sand Festival a calendar highlight.
Organiser Sue Asplan said it's their 21st year celebrating the arts.
"We've got the beach, we've got the materials for the beach here, available to us. We've got people being creative on the beach. We have a competition where they can make anything they like from beach-found materials, we get some incredible sculptures," she said.
And for others, the Woodstock motorcycle rally proved popular.
Ken Reece from West Coast Touring motorcycle club said it's been busy on the roads.
"At the Covid peak, our roads were as naked as the desert and since then we've got all sorts of vehicles coming over - many, many motorcycles," he said.
Development West Coast's Heath Milne said the latest visitor spending figures are a "phenomenal result".
"So 2019, about $17.5 million spend [for the] month of December.
"2022 [was] about 20% higher than that, just over $20 million," he said.
But the breakdown of visitors compared to before the pandemic is different.
Milne said that while the overall numbers are higher than they were in 2019, the international numbers tell a different story.
"International [is] slightly lower, domestic's much higher," he said.
For some, the overall boost has provided the perfect opportunity to start something new.
Loren Rigby opened her ice cream parlour four months ago.
"It's really rewarding seeing the kids come in with big smiles - but actually, adults have bigger smiles than the kids most times, so it's been really fun," she said.
"It's been hectic, but it's been really good. A lot of learning curves that we've had but it's all worked out really well so far."
"People were really concerned about the length of time it was going to take for the industry to come back and it's really beaten expectations, so there's a real buzz around the community," Milne added.
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