SheBikesHeBikes owner Steve Goodlass, of Clyde, said bookings for New Zealand visitors were middling due to a lack of demand or people booking their trips later than normal.
"Numbers are similar to last year; it’s not so good."
The lack of demand was down to difficulties caused by the recession, he said.
Another issue was the high cost of airfares, especially outside the major cities.
"[People are] getting killed on regional airfares."
On the other hand international demand had been strong with Australian visitor numbers returning to pre-Covid levels, he said.
Trail Journeys operations manager Ian Corder said it was a very different season this year.
There had been an increase in visitors booking tours later than usual.
Mr Corder also put the decreased bookings down to the cost of living and cost of airfares.
"Middle New Zealand is struggling," he said.
There were also more trail tour companies, which was impacting bookings.
"There used to be limited competition, now there are more trails and more operators," he said.
Altitude Bikes owner and operator David Tidey, of Alexandra, said despite it being quieter this season they were happy with how business was tracking.
Booking accommodation for clients on the days they want had been easier than normal, he said.
"Normally for some, this time of the year, sometimes trying to get the dates that people want is hard to do, but that’s not a problem at the moment."
Despite it being a quiet week for pre-booked tours, they had been busy with tourists from overseas who turned up for ad-hoc tours, he said.
"We thought we had a quiet week, this week with just a couple of pre-booked jobs but we’ve actually been really, really busy with just ... overseas people turning up at the door and booking them now," Mr Tidey said.
Accommodation providers had also experienced a decrease in visitors.
The Station Omakau owner and operator Sarah Hattrill said booking numbers were down from last season, particularly for the summer months.
Like the cycle trail tour operators, she believed the decrease in domestic tourist numbers was due to the cost of living crisis and the price of domestic airfares.
She also noticed an increase in bookings from Australian tourists.
"Probably every second group is Australian," she said.
Otago Central Rail Trail Trust manager Colin Stevenson said lower visitor numbers were not unique to Central Otago trails.
"To be honest I’ve heard that from other trails from throughout New Zealand, it appears to be a sign of the economy at this stage."
One thing the trust had noticed was people were tending to book their tours closer to their holiday when in other years they would book months in advance.
The trust was confident in the numbers of international tourists visiting the trails and that domestic traveller numbers would rebound as the economy improved, although it is was not known when, Mr Stevenson said.
