The number of working holiday visa holders exploring New Zealand has declined by more than 50% since 2016. Photo / George Novak
“Where do working holiday visa holders go? Places like Tauranga.”
That’s according to Haydn Marriner, the brand development manager at Tourism Bay of Plenty, who says young people from overseas not only fill a gap in the hospitality and service sectors, they spend more than any other tourism cohort.
Marriner, who is also the chairman of the Backpacker Youth and Adventure Tourism Association, says having more people coming to New Zealand on working holiday visas could add $1 billion to the national economy.
The visas allow young people aged 19 to 30, or sometimes up to 35, from recognised countries to travel, work and study in New Zealand for up to 12 months.
In 2025, 32,277 working visa applications were approved, compared to 74,911 in 2022 and 69,757 in 2016, data from the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment showed.
Only 905 applications were approved in 2021, the lowest number recorded during the 10-year period.
Bay of Plenty Tourism conducted a study on working holiday visa holders travelling New Zealand, concluding that the average visa holder contributed between $50,000 and $60,000 to the New Zealand economy.
The number of working holiday visa applications approved fluctuated each year, but 2025 numbers were 50% lower than in 2016.
If approved applications stuck to 2016 levels, Marriner said the system could gain “another billion dollars”.
Data tracking credit card spending indicated that the average international traveller visited three to four regions, while a youth traveller visited seven to nine.
“Youth travellers are the biggest spenders. They stay longer and they visit more regions. They live in a community, so they spend back into it. Tourism is a force for good.
“That kind of value is really felt in places like Tauranga and Mount Maunganui, where working holiday visa holders plug a vital gap in our hospitality and service sector. They’re a fantastic mobile workforce.”
Marriner said for hospitality businesses, working holiday visa holders were both their staff and customers.
“If they’re up here in the North Island, they’re likely to continue south to Te Puke for kiwifruit, then they migrate down to Hawke’s Bay for wine, maybe olives in the Wairarapa. They could be working hospitality jobs over the winter in Wellington or Christchurch, or fruit picking in Central Otago.
“The beautiful part about it is they live in the communities they work in. They become part of that fabric.
“They’re providing that reciprocal value down to places which other visitors might not go to, like Maketū, Newdicks Beach, Pukehina, Whakatāne, and Ōpōtiki.”
Sam MacKinnon, head of communications and advocacy at Hospitality New Zealand, said working holiday visa travellers were “behind the bar, in the kitchen, and serving in our cafés, and they’re also sitting at the tables as customers”.
“They play a year-round role but are particularly vital over the busier summer season.”
Working holiday visa travellers lived, worked, and travelled locally, spending what they earned while working in New Zealand, MacKinnon said.
“Recent research indicates that each dollar spent by youth visitors generates $1.40 in regional economic activity.”
Hospitality New Zealand and the Backpacker Youth and Adventure Tourism Association are campaigning for Tourism NZ to launch targeted marketing efforts into Australia and other key markets to increase working holiday visa numbers.
“We know a number of working holiday visa travellers who have come here with the intention of staying for a year but have subsequently transitioned onto visa types that allow them to stay for longer,” MacKinnon said.
Laure Gamelon, general manager of Wanderlust and Pacific Coast Lodge and Backpackers, said the hostel was currently sponsoring three people for a work visa, after they came to New Zealand on a working holiday visa.
“They stay long term and spend even more money,” Gamelon said. “They might stay here for the next 30 years of their life or more.”
Gamelon said in her home country of France, Australia was advertised more than New Zealand as a working holiday destination.
She climbed the ranks at Wanderlust and Pacific Coast Lodge and Backpackers, starting as a receptionist on a partner visa, then was promoted “little by little”.
Working holiday visa holders are at the heart of the business and Gamelon said 95% of her guests were on one.
Comparatively, those on a Skilled Migrant Category Resident Visa sent the money they earned back home, Gamelon said. “They don’t spend the money here compared to those on a working holiday visa.”
Tourism Bay of Plenty general manager Oscar Nathan said visitors spent $575 million on their electronic cards in the Bay of Plenty during the year ending July 2025, but “economic impact is not the only way to measure the value of tourism”.
“Residents and business owners enjoy the different perspectives, accents, and extra vibe that visitors bring to our region. Visitor support also makes events more viable, driving a greater range of entertainment options for the people who live here.”
Bijou Johnson is a multimedia journalist based in the Bay of Plenty. A passionate writer and reader, she grew up in Tauranga and developed a love for journalism while exploring various disciplines at university. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Classical Studies from Massey University.