Hastings edges Napier for consumer resilience, region’s tourism slumps

Hawke's Bay Tourism CEO Hamish Saxton says decreased domestic visitor spend in Hawke's Bay shows a real need for promotion of the region. Photo / Simon Cartwright

Both Napier and Hastings have seen an increase in consumer resilience since last year, despite the devastation caused by Cyclone Gabrielle.

But while statistics show that card spending is up, Hawke’s Bay looks to have still lost a large chunk of its tourism market share.

Data from Marketview showed the Hastings economy was continuing to grow at a faster rate than the national average.

“Even in the last three months, with our district still significantly impacted from the cyclone, spending has increased by 5.2 per cent – higher than the national average of 3.8 per cent,” Hastings Mayor Sandra Hazlehurst said.

While Hastings District Council admitted some of the increase could be attributed to rising prices, they also noted the number of transactions in the district had increased.

Since June 2020, overall spending in Hastings has grown year on year from around $950 million in 2020 to more than $1200m in 2023.

“It shows that people are coming to Hastings and supporting our economy, and we also may be starting to see people who have now received their insurance payouts from the cyclone spending locally to replace their flood-damaged items,” Hazelhurst said.

Napier also saw an increase in spend, but it was slightly less.

For the quarter from April 1 to June 30 last year, Napier City Council confirmed spending in Napier increased by 2 per cent, and the number of transactions increased by 1.3 per cent.

In terms of spending change since June 2020, Napier previously sat at just under $950m and is now just under $1150m.

“The increase in spending since the first lockdown of 2020 is a tale of business resilience during difficult trading conditions,” Napier Mayor Kirsten Wise said.

“Despite all that has happened since 2020, Napier businesses have shown they can keep going in difficult situations.”

The spending figures from Marketview did not account for cash or online purchases, which may have reflected spending discrepancies when it came to counting the impact of international tourists.

While the Marketview data reflected that some spending was up, TECT (Tourism Electronic Card Transactions) figures released by the Ministry of Business, Employment and Innovation show a different side to the story.

It’s found that the tourism market share for Hawke’s Bay has reduced by 11 per cent as a result of the cyclone.

“The data shows a decrease in domestic visitor spend and a very real need for the continued promotion of the region,” Hawke’s Bay Tourism chief executive Hamish Saxton said.

Hawke’s Bay’s share of New Zealand’s domestic spend for the 12 months to June 2023 was 3.2 per cent, down from 3.62 per cent in the 12 months to June 2022.

“While this seems like a relatively small figure, domestic visitors contributed $374m to Hawke’s Bay in the 12 months to June 2023, and we are actually talking about another $49m that would’ve been injected into local businesses and operators,” Saxton said.

“Thankfully, during this same period, we welcomed back international spending, with the region benefiting from a 185 per cent year on year increase. However, as international visitors only contributed a total of $59m in electronic transactions to Hawke’s Bay in the 12 months to June 2023, that increase only equated to $38m.”

Saxton noted that while TECT data was not a complete representation of the value of the visitor economy, tracking electronic card transactions only, it assisted in painting a picture of industry trends.

He said the figures signal a challenge in turning around visitor perceptions that lingered due to the cyclone.

“We know forward bookings for a number of operators pick up from spring, and even more so during summer. However, we also know that some people still believe they shouldn’t visit Hawke’s Bay, so we have plenty more work to do.”

The data also found while tour companies and cultural and recreational facilities are reaping the benefit of the returned international visitors, New Zealanders were spending less on accommodation, retail and food and beverage services while in Hawke’s Bay.

Mitchell Hageman joined Hawke’s Bay Today in late January. From his Napier base, he writes regularly on social issues, arts and culture and the community.