Hawke's Bay experiences spike in school holiday spending across different sectors

Womens U19s. Vantage Age Group Road National Championships in Waipukurau. Photo / Paul Taylor

The first week of the school holidays paints a "pretty picture" of Hawke's Bay's visitor economy, says Hawke's Bay Tourism chief executive Hamish Saxton.

Saxton said Marketview-Paymark data showed that consumer spend in Hawke's Bay increased by 8.6 per cent year-on-year for the week ending July 12, the first week of the school holidays.

"The beauty of this comparison is that we really are comparing apples with apples as in 2019, this was also the first week of the school holidays," Saxton said.

Broken down further the data showed that each territory was doing well with a year-on-year increase in consumer spend of 9.7 per cent in Hastings, 8.4 per cent in Central Hawke's Bay and 7.9 per cent in Napier for the week ending July 12.

"While this is consumer expenditure as a whole, we also know that spend on accommodation during the same period was up 15 per cent in Hawke's Bay, and that food and beverages services, which is our hospitality sector, was up 7.9 per cent," he said.

"So we start to get a picture that the school holidays really have had an excellent impact on our visitor economy, and thus, our economy as a whole.

"What's more, when we add into the mix the initial statistics and anecdotal evidence we have received from our key family-centric operators, such as Kennedy Park, the National Aquarium of New Zealand, Arataki Honey, Birdwoods, Waipawa Settlers Museum and our fantastic i-SITE teams, and the immense value of travelling families to Hawke's Bay becomes apparent."

Birdwoods Sweet Shop in Havelock North is a popular visitor attraction. Photo / Warren Buckland

Central Hawke's Bay District Council mayor Alex Walker concurred and said the district had seen a spike in spending over the school holiday period, in total transaction value across all retail types, including accommodation and hospitality.

At the start of the school holidays on July 6 spending was up 9.3 per cent on last year, climbing to 13 per cent on July 10.

The second week of the school holidays saw the school holiday spending spike stay steady, between 10 to 12 per cent up on last year.

And with visitors flocking to the district with events like the Vantage Age Group Road National Championships, the upward trend in visitors is set to continue, Walker said.

"The championships will see over 1200 visitors to the district," she said.

"It's fantastic to see people choosing to spend their school holidays taking a 'Hawke's Baycation' in our beautiful Central Hawke's Bay District.

"Not only is it wonderful to be able to show off what we have to offer, but this spike in local spending is incredibly valuable to the economic recovery of our businesses following Covid-19 and the drought."

An American Three-toed box turtle peeks from his shell at the National Aquarium of New Zealand. Photo / File

Napier City Council mayor Kirsten Wise said retailers in the city were seeing a positive upward trend in spending for the past six weeks.

"There has been an overall increase in spend for the week of July 6 to 12 of 9 per cent on the same week in 2019," Wise said.

"By far the biggest spend was in home and recreational retail, followed by hospitality and accommodation, and clothing, footwear and department stores, then food, liquor and pharmacies.

"I believe Napier is well known for its family attractions, such as the National Aquarium of NZ, and hospitality options. I believe as New Zealanders are unable to travel overseas many people have taken the opportunity to visit us."

The Hastings economy also continued to bounce back from Covid-19 with retail spending surpassing the same month last year.

The Marketview report for the week ending July 5 shows that retail spending was $2m higher than the same time last year, continuing the upward trend recorded in the week ending May 31 when spend was up $1m on the year prior.

The 11.4 per cent increase is compared to a national increase of 3.9 per cent in the same week.

Hastings mayor Sandra Hazlehurst said there was a real sense of cautious optimism across Hastings' business district.

"Most business owners I speak to are experiencing an increase in sales. While export prices aren't as high as other years there is a strong demand for our produce overseas," Hazlehurst said.

"Our community is getting behind the 'Buy Local Campaign' which is helping to keep our economy moving, and the 'Hawke's Baycation' campaign is attracting many visitors to the region who are spending in our hospitality and accommodation sectors, wineries and retail stores.

"The construction industry and civil infrastructure have a positive pipeline of work ahead."

Hastings City Business Association manager Anita Alder said the recent installation of an artificial ice rink was another big boost to activity in the city centre.

"We welcomed over 3900 visitors across the 10 days, people got great joy from it and it was wonderful for us to bring such a unique experience to the CBD."