What was meant to be one of the "biggest weekends” has flat lined for businesses in Whangamatā and Whitianga on the Coromandel Peninsula, where slips have closed arterial routes.

Across the board tourism, hospitality and accommodation have been devastated by the of loss of customers.

This Waitangi weekend some are recording 50 per cent less sales than the previous year.

It follows a spree of weather events which caused widespread damage across the Thames-Coromandel district, closing off highways and reducing others to one lane traffic.

The most significant issue is the closure of State Highway 25a after the road essentially disappeared in a slip.

Recovering from the impacts of the pandemic was already on the minds of business owners, but some were now considering the worst - pivoting their business or finding 'another job” altogether.

For those at Surfsup New Zealand in Whangamatā, the start of the long weekend was spent sifting through 'a lot of cancellations”.

Instead of earning this weekend manager/director Mauro Dal Bosco​ and his partner have been arranging refunds.

'We were expecting a lot of customers to come through for Waitangi weekend which is usually pretty busy but...a lot of people didn't even come to Whangamatā,” says Dalboscle.

'It definitely made me consider that we might have to get other jobs.”

The Thames-Coromandel district has been riddled with a series of road closures alongside certain routes being partly open.

SH25 Thames Coast Road, between Waiomu and Ruamahunga, had closed due to a major to rock fall last week and SH25A from Kopu-Hikuai was cut off for the 'foreseeable future” after cracks in the important Coromandel route had developed into a colossal landslide which was still moving.

All they could do was 'sit and wait”, says Dalboscle.

Surfsup 'make up most of their earnings during summer” and were pleading for visitors to come and see them when things cleared up.

'February could be good, it might make up for some of those losses, you never know, we're hoping for the best. Please come and see us.”

The uncertainty of the situation is what sits with Fred Bayer​ from Peninsula Motel in Whitianga the most.

He says it's 'a bit of a negative marketing aspect” for travellers when there is no clue of when the road closures will lift or what the weather would do next, after losing the majority of his bookings.

SH25A Kōpū-Hikuai Road was one of the main routes through the Coromandel Peninsula which remains closed due to the large slip that had doubled in size in the past week and was still unsettled.

'We were full, and now we're not,” he says.

'[A] summer concert was on too, and that was cancelled, so that eliminated all our long weekend bookings, so basically it's now the odd bookings...it's had a major impact.”

January is usually the busiest calendar month for Soul Burger in Whangamatā, but it's holding out for better weather in February, making it a long and "really tough" summer.

'We're probably 50 per cent capacity in sales compared to the same time last year,” says owner Pip Simmons.

She says they had no anticipation that the two biggest weekends, Auckland Anniversary and Waitangi, would be 'non-starters”.

During summer they stocked up financially to get ready for winter when people head down south instead for the ski season.

On Friday afternoon, Thames-Coromandel District Council had declared a state of emergency.

Simmons says this is another blow, deterring travellers away from the holiday which she feels is 'completely unnecessary”.

'You're keeping your head high after a really bad new year...it's tough, it's really tough.”

The following routes are open on a one lane basis due to 'multiple slips” which means delays and extended travel times.

Colville Road, Te Kouma Road , Kennedy Bay Road, Tuateawa Road, Port Charles Road, Black Jack Road, Port Jackson Road.

The 309 Rd was open to all traffic but multiple one lane sections were in place due to underslips making it unsuitable for long vehicles or vehicles with trailers. Neavesville Rd was also reduced to 1 lane section at the 4km mark.

SH2 Karangahake Gorge is open but with 'caution advised” due to a slip near along with SH25 between Waihi to Coromandel which was open but with Stop/go management and temporary speed restrictions.

-Te Aorewa Rolleston/Stuff.