Hanmer Springs Thermal Pools And Spa Reopens After A 65 Day Closure

Hanmer Springs Thermal Pools and Spa is changing its way of working, so people can soak in its therapeutic mineral waters once more.

At 10am today, the popular North Canterbury tourist destination will welcome its first customers through the doors, heralding the end of a 65 day closure.

The alpine thermal pools and spa has been closed since March 22.

Hanmer Springs Thermal Pools and Spa general manager Graeme Abbot says it is a great feeling to be able to fill the pools with happy locals and domestic tourists again.

“It’s been very surreal having the complex completely empty these last two months. We’ve been working hard behind the scenes to get things ready in time for the opening and so there is certainly a sense of relief that we’ve got here.”

Maintenance teams had measured every one of the complex’s 22 pools, to calculate the total number of people that would be able to enjoy a ‘socially distant soak’.

In addition, the complex has new signage guiding social distancing and a new entry process, to ensure the safety of all customers.

Graeme says Queen’s Birthday is going to be a very busy one for the team – and the village - with the pools fully booked.

“While this is great news, our visitor numbers for the long weekend will be down by 50% on the same time last year. It also means that many people have missed out on the opportunity to visit our place. It’s really tough having to turn customers away and we’re sorry that we have to limit numbers because of guidelines.”

“I do really want to thank everyone for their patience as we navigate new and unfamiliar territory,” says Graeme.

With the long weekend bringing with it a small resurgence in domestic tourism, operators are calling on people to back them in the long term, says Graeme.

“We’re in for a tough winter in the village, and we need more than one off boosts like what we’re seeing this weekend. That’s why we are backing Jeremy Corbett’s GOOT Day proposal and petition, which calls on the Government to declare a new public holiday to support domestic tourism operators, like ours. Anything that helps Kiwis support tourism in this climate gets our support right now.”

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