The dominance of American Express Auckland Restaurant Month has meant that for some restaurants on the fringe suburbs, customer numbers have dropped further in the already light winter months.
Unlike Visa Wellington on a Plate, in which restaurants from the greater Wellington area can take part, Auckland Restaurant Month is run by Heart of the City, a business advocacy group which operates in an area of the central city roughly measuring 1.5km2. The district does not extend as far north as Karangahape Road or west to Ponsonby, both areas which have emerged as premier dining destinations over the last decade.
“It’s much better to be in it than out of it,” said one restaurant owner in the central city. “It’s great for us, but not so good for restaurants on the edge.”
Restaurant Month is an undeniable boon to establishments which choose to take part. Figures from the 2017 iteration showed that spending had risen by 10.6 percent at participating restaurants – an increase of almost $1.5 million – while spending in “competing areas” was only up 3.6 percent. Similarly, transaction numbers increased by 11.7 percent as compared to 6.9 percent in competing areas, meaning that the number of diners at participating restaurants far outweighed those at non-participating restaurants. Heart of the City did not respond to requests for comment.
The success of Heart of the City’s event has spurred other suburbs into action. Ponsonby Central launched Feast Ponsonby this year, a food festival which operates in much the same way as Restaurant Month.
“In the past, our members have definitely noticed a dip during Restaurant Month,” said Karangahape Road Business Association general manager Michael Richardson. However, a recent boost of publicity has meant that the numbers this year haven’t been as low as they have previously. Despite running perpendicular to the Queen Street, Karangahape Road isn’t included in the Heart of the City zone – a fact which comes as a surprise to unsuspecting Restaurant Month-goers, who Richardson said often call up asking what K Road is offering during the period.
As in Ponsonby, Richardson said he has noticed a drive for collaboration – either within the K Road district or as a larger, Auckland-wide event. K Road is no stranger to collaborative events, with the annual Others Way multi-venue music festival spread out across various bars and music venues. It is increased publicity from events such as this which Richardson believes is the key to avoiding negative effects from Restaurant Month. “We’ve been getting some great publicity recently, mainly coming from our restaurants, bars and cafés.”
Gary Holmes, general manager of the Uptown Business Association (Grafton, Newton, Eden Terrace and parts of Mt Eden), said that while he hadn’t received any feedback from his members at this stage, the hospitality members of the Association were meeting in September to discuss future options.
“There is potential for [a similar event],” he said. “It’s timely that we’re meeting to discuss it now.”
