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Touchwood Fishing Charters is one of Tairāwhiti’s few marine tourism operators, running fishing trips, private charters, scenic cruises and family outings out of Gisborne. Owners Amber and Mike Clarke built it around making time on the water accessible to anyone, seasoned angler or first-timer.
Then 28 consecutive trips were cancelled to weather, and the couple started looking at options outside the region. They stayed but the cancellations dates were bad timing for peak season for a marine tourism operator.
“The 28-day run was over December 24 and January 25,” Amber says.
“This last December January wasn’t actually much better; we only got 3 more trips than the last period it’s just that it was a few days in a row throughout instead of 1 block.”
And weather isn’t an occasional hit for the business. It’s their operating condition.
“We lose 50% of our bookings to weather, this has been the case over the last 5 years,” Amber says.
With business capability support through Tairāwhiti Trust, business mentorship and a refinance they were able to rebrand their business, market their experiences better and provide customers with easier ways to book trips.
Since connecting with the Trust,Touchwood will expand into scenic tours and birdwatching, bringing in a wider mix of visitors but it won’t replace the lost fishing revenue.
We stayed because we love Gisborne and feel like we owe it to the community to stay.” says Mike.
“What has been our saviour has been the five-hour coastal and Harbour trips, especially since the fuel went up. Shorter more affordable,” Mike says.
But, even then Mike says the clock is ticking.
“We are giving it 2 seasons, if we can’t make it viable, we will still look at leaving.” Mike says.
