Fear and optimism for Whakatāne's post White Island eruption tourist sector

Tuesday, 10 December 2019

Bryan Heath left flowers at White Island Tours to pay tribute to the victims.

Ohope local Bryan Heath saw the deadly Whakaari/White Island eruption from his own home and he's confident the region will 'bounce back'.

But not all share his optimism.

Heath spoke to Stuff immediately after delivering flowers to the cafe at the White Island Tours business.

Ohope local Bryan Heath said he was confident the region would bounce back.

'We know they'll be pretty devastated losing definitely one but possibly two staff members.'

He was confident the town would recover from the tragedy.

Whakaari/White Island erupted on Monday leaving five confirmed dead, and eight feared dead.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern meets with first responders at the Whakatane Fire Station on Tuesday.

*Whakaari/White Island eruption: PM addresses Parliament

*Whakaari/White Island: 'Fantastic team work' in treating severely injured patients

*Whakaari/White Island eruption: What we know of the people missing, injured, or dead

*Whakaari: This is the family that privately owns White Island**

'We'll bounce back.'

His hopeful view is shared by some - but not all - of the business owners Stuff spoke to.

Landing Hotel owner Dave Gardner said the prospect of Whakatāne losing tours to White Island would be like 'if you took Ayers Rock [Uluru] out of the middle of Australia'.'

'It's going to effect it.'

Harvey Donald, Barrington's Motor Lodge owner, said he had had three cancellations on Tuesday, and while he was unsure whether they were explicitly linked to the eruption, said he believed the tours closure would effect the town.

The reception of his motel, like a number Stuff visited, had a poster with numerous Whakaari/White Island photos.

'Explosive, awesome, fascinating, unique,' it said.

Tourist Court owner John Veen said they had actually seen a spike in bookings from rescue related staff and media, and said many businesses would be busy over the Christmas holidays.

After that, however, he said that if the tours didn't return consequences would be felt across the whole town, and he predicted they would be long term too.

Cortez Motel manager Leilana Ogle said many of their guests, especially in the summer months, would take the Whakaari/White Island tour.

'It's definitely going to have some impact on motel people.'

She said she had one guest who had travelled from Vanuatu just to visit the volcano, but was broadly optimistic.

'White Island is not for everyone, not everyone wants to go on an active volcano,' she said.

'We have plenty of people come for reasons other than White Island.'

Ice Man fishing shop co-owner Johnathon Mills said the fishing fraternity was numb the day after the eruption, and that had been reflected at the tills.

'It's pretty flat eh,' he said.

'I don't think it's really hit a lot of people yet.'

Some however, were more optimistic.

Ohope Beach Resort owner Janine Mills didn't believe the Island tours were the biggest driver for their guests, which she said were mainly New Zealanders.

'They come here to get away from it all, the hustle and bustle, to chill out,' she said.

She also said most visitors to the Island call in passing before 'they're off, to Napier, Gisborne, Rotorua'.

'It's what the resort offers, Ohope itself,' said her husband and co-owner Dave.

'There's a lot more than White Island.'

Whether the Island reopens is very much a moot point however.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said earlier it was too soon to make that call, while others have warned it should have closed long ago.

'A disaster waiting to happen,' is how Monash University professor Ray Cas described Whakaari/White Island.

'Having visited it twice, I have always felt that it was too dangerous to allow the daily tour groups that visit the uninhabited island volcano by boat and helicopter.

'White Island lies almost 50 kms offshore from Whakatāne, and experiences significant explosive eruptions every three to five years. It has a very active geothermal system with many steaming gas vents and varying numbers of hot water-filled crater lakes in the floor of an amphitheatre shaped large crater.'

He explained that in the lead up to major eruptions like there, there can be elevated levels of steam release, small explosions and increased seimicity, which is what happened on White Island in the last two weeks.

Veen also suggested something others told Stuff - that if the Island reopened it could in fact become more popular, and lucrative, than ever.

'It's called adventure tourism,' he said.

Both Tourism Bay of Plenty and the Eastern Bay of Plenty Chamber of Commerce declined to comment.