The only service station in Queenstown ran out of petrol on one of the busiest weekends of the tourism season.
The Queenstown Caltex had drained its supplies of unleaded and premium unleaded by Friday afternoon but it still had diesel in stock.
Caltex franchisees are generally responsible for ordering and managing their fuel supplies, however, Caltex Queenstown declined to comment on the fuel shortage.
West Coasters took to social media to express their frustration while service stations in surrounding towns such as Strahan experienced an increase in customers.
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Some tourists who were unable to fill up at Queenstown poured into local attractions and businesses, such as The Empire Hotel.
But hotel manager Mark King said “no one really seemed all that upset” because fuel was still available at other towns.
Mr King said Queenstown’s remote location and the restricted delivery times during the Christmas period made it difficult for businesses to maintain stock levels.
“Being such a remote, isolated place, transportation and logistics is a bit of an issue,” he said.
“Particularly being able to store enough stock and items for those busy periods when there is only a finite amount of space for them.”
The bowsers were finally back in service by Monday morning after a fuel delivery arrived at at 6:30am.
Destination West Coast chair Anthony Brown was pleased the Queenstown Caltex was back in full service, especially given the amount of tourists visiting the region.
“It wasn’t a long term thing but obviously any time without fuel, especially over the holiday period is not good. But there were other options on the West Coast,” he said.
Mr Brown said no business was “infallible” and “we all have challenges”.
“This was just one we have to live with but it’s just a minor one and we will move forward,” he said.
Extracted from The Advocate
