This time last year, the township of Coromandel was looking forward to opening up to summer visitors after three years of lockdowns and road issues.

But the combination of last summer’s storms that wreaked havoc in the North Island and the demise of a regular ferry service from Auckland “knocked that for a six”, Jan Orton, a member of the Thrive Community Trust that runs the Coromandel Town Information Centre, told Stuff.

Part of State Highway 25A, a major link between Auckland and the Coromandel Peninsula’s east coast, was closed for most of 2023 after a section of the road collapsed following the late January storm.

The problem was, when people outside of the peninsula heard that the road to the Coromandel was closed, they thought that meant the road to Coromandel town too, says Jan.

”We had all manner of people cancelling bookings for accommodation, whereas in fact, the town was open and traffic was being diverted through the town to get to the east coast.”

Jan would like to see greater differentiation between the Coromandel peninsula and Coromandel town.

“We did get hit by the cyclones, and our roads did get damaged, but they weren’t impassable. We were left with no one coming into town.”

The absence of the ferry service from downtown Auckland has also had a huge impact on Coromandel town, she says.

“We were the gateway to the east coast.”

Ferry company Fullers 360 suspended its Coromandel service in the summer of 2020 due to the effects of Covid-19.

A marine industry skills shortage meant the company lacked the crew to restore the route, says Fullers360 chief executive Mike Horne.

The company is eager to get the ferry service back up and running, but there is no quick fix for the skills shortage, he says.

“Across 2023, we have taken steps to make considerable progress on resolving this including implementing training programmes, record wage increases and international recruitment efforts so we can get this service back up and running as soon as we are able to.”

Jeni Ashman, an owner of James and Turner Hardware in the town, set up the Coromandel Colville Business Association in July 2023.

State Highway 25A was closed for most of 2023 from Kopu to Hikuai after a January storm caused significant damage to the road. Photo: Waka Kotahi/Supplied.

One of the reasons the business group was started was to advocate for the return of the ferry service, says Jen.

“It was definitely a tourist attraction, it seemed to always be full. People would come in and spend the whole day here.”

According to regional tourism agency Destination Hauraki Coromandel, an already difficult situation for tourism operators on the entire Coromandel peninsula was compounded when a February storm damaged Cathedral Cove and region-wide visitor revenue for the first six months of 2023 was down 40 per cent ($90 million).

Jen says the long term damage from the storms has been amazing.

”People thinking the road is closed was dreadful. If it rained towards the end of a week, they wouldn’t come in case there was a slip.”

Heading into the summer season, Jen says the shop is stocked up in hopeful anticipation.

“People will come when the sun is shining.”

However, she's not expecting visitors to be spending up large due to cost of living concerns.

”We feel like we might get the numbers, but we might not get the spend.”

-Erin Johnson/Stuff.