Visitor spending figures show another good month for Hawke's Bay tourism operators

CRUISING: Cruise vessel Sun Princess, bringing overseas visitors to Hawke's Bay. PHOTO / FILE

With funding for Hawke's Bay's regional tourism organisation (RTO) still up in the air, latest government data shows international tourists are flooding the region.

The latest Monthly Regional Tourism Estimates released by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) show that tourism expenditure grew in all regions over the year ending February 2018, with Hawke's Bay raking in about $62 million. That brings the total tourism spend for the last 12 months to $629m - 5 per cent up on the previous 12 months.

MBIE also released new Regional Tourism Organisation (RTO) fact sheets, developed in consultation with Regional Tourism Organisations New Zealand (RTONZ) and the wider tourism industry.

The new fact sheets revealed that while the domestic tourism spend declined slightly in February, spending from international visits is at its highest level, with overseas visitors spending $24m in the region in February.

International spending has now increased year on year for the last three months in a row - with international tourists spending at least $20m a month.

Although funding for Hawke's Bay Tourism is still to be decided on by the Hawke's Bay Regional Council, which has proposed a 50 per cent funding cut, Hawke's Bay Tourism general manager Annie Dundas welcomed the region's latest strong showing.

"It's been another great month for visitor spend and that's on the back of a very strong February 2017 with Te Matatini occurring last year."

MBIE's manager of Sector Trends Mark Gordon says that there has been positive performance in regions around the country.

"The regions with the fastest growing tourism spend over the year ending February 2018 were the West Coast, which increased 12 per cent to $548 million, followed by Tasman, which increased 11 per cent to $317 million and Taranaki, up 11 per cent to $380 million," Mr Gordon says.

Mr Gordon said MBIE developed the Monthly Regional Tourism Estimates in consultation with tourism industry representatives to create a better measurement of the value of tourism in the regions.

"Tourism spending information for the regions helps inform investment and planning in the tourism industry by providing insight into where both domestic and international tourists are spending their money."