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The last-minute scramble to sell tickets to May’s Bluff Oyster & Food Festival failed to offer a lifeline to the ILT’s bottom line.
ILT chief executive Chris Ramsay said the trust’s hospitality sector had been significantly impacted by a poor oyster festival weekend, which had historically been one of the trust’s strongest trading periods.
Regular tour groups cancelled their bookings with the trust’s accommodation providers after festival organisers announced there might not be oysters available at the 2026 event.
"This therefore led to the inevitable decline in profit for the month," Mr Ramsay said.
As a result, the ILT’s total sales income for May was down by $231,930 on the same period last year.
But this was exacerbated by the fact it was being compared to a positive 2025 season which was more than double the 2024 result.
May’s events and conferences were more frequent, but they were smaller than 2025’s bumper hospitality season.
"While our profit before tax and donations was down over $273,000 on last May’s abnormally high result, it was actually up on the more standard May 2024 result by over $65,000."
But May had continued to offer challenging trading conditions that were being compounded by cost-of-living and fuel crises alongside the usual seasonal decline.
"These headwinds are being felt across the sector, with a 49% increase in hospitality business failures and the recent closure of a renowned local restaurant, illustrate just how widespread the challenges for our industry are," Mr Ramsay said.
By Toni McDonald