Tourism spending for Whanganui and Ruapehu increased in the year to February, according to the latest estimates released by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE).
The figures show that tourism spend for the Manawatu-Whanganui region is estimated to be $993 million for the year to February 2018, up 5 per cent compared with the year to February 2017.
MBIE manager of sector trends Mark Gordon said international visitors spent $172m of the regional tourism spend in the year to February 2018 (up 14 per cent compared with the year to February 2017) and domestic tourists spent $821m (up 3 per cent).
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"When it comes to the monthly expenditure, tourism spend in Manawatu-Whanganui for the month of February 2018 is up 4 per cent compared with the month of February 2017," Gordon said.
In the Visit Whanganui and Visit Ruapehu areas, annual domestic and international spending and total guest nights have increased.
For the Whanganui district, domestic spending was $109.7m (up 2.3 per cent); international spending increased 8.5 per cent to $21.5m; and guest nights increased 4.7 per cent.
In Ruapehu, annual domestic visitor spending was up 7.3 per cent to $149.6m; international visitor spending increased14.7 per cent to $46.1m; and guest nights were up 6.7 per cent.