No discount at peak times

Waitaki residents will have to fork out up to five times what they usually would if they want to visit the Oamaru Blue Penguin Colony or Whitestone City during the peak tourism season.

People who live in the district have  paid a discounted rate year-round for entry to the town’s top two tourism attractions.

Discounted rates at the penguin colony start at $3 for a day tour, $6 for general evening viewing admission and $9 for a premium evening viewing ticket.

At Whitestone City, the entry fee is $5 for adults and free for people under the age of 18.

However, Tourism Waitaki has confirmed the discount will no longer apply between October 1 to March 31.

People will instead have to pay the full penguin colony entry fees of $15 (day tour), $30 (general evening viewing) and $45 (premium evening viewing).

Prices at Whitestone City are $20 for adults and $10 for under-18s.

Children under 5 are free. Tourism Waitaki general manager Margaret Munro said the decision was made in the interest of keeping the growing number of visitors to Oamaru, particularly those that planned to visit the penguin colony, happy.

"What’s driving it is capacity issues. Some nights ... this summer we are already booked out. That’s why we’re trying to get the availability for visitors to be able to see the experience if they are only here for one night, whereas locals have got the opportunity to go year-round, really.

"It seems silly to to say to visitors who visit here ‘no you can’t come and see them because we’ve got locals filling up the seats’. It’s just a common sense thing, really."

She did not think the decision to charge residents full price during peak season would put them off the idea of taking people  from outside the district to the penguin colony.

"There [are] still local rates. All we’re saying is let’s have our visitors experience what is special here and our locals can come when we do have the spare capacity and it’s quiet. It’s really a goodwill thing to our tourists.

"Even if the locals didn’t go with them, they can still send them along."

A Tourism Waitaki spokeswoman was unable to provide the Otago Daily Times with the total attendance at the penguin colony between October 1 and March 31, but said Waitaki residents made up 1.1% of visitors during the time period.

About 2.5% of people who visit the penguin colony annually are from Oamaru.

daniel.birchfield@odt.co.nz

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