Bringing a little colour to the grey skies in Hawke's Bay. Photo / Paul Taylor
Bringing a little colour to the grey skies in Hawke's Bay. Photo / Paul Taylor
Spending by tourists in Hawke's Bay hit record levels over winter.
The latest Monthly Regional Tourism Estimates (MRTE) prepared by the Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment showed the annual value of Hawke's Bay visitor spend is now estimated at $664 million in the 12 months to August 2019.
Seasonalvisitor spend in Hawke's Bay reached $127m for the June to August period, an increase of $8m or 7 per cent over the same period last year.
International visitor spend was the standout performer, increasing by 10 per cent, while domestic visitor spend also rose 6 per cent.
Hawke's Bay Tourism chief executive Hamish Saxton said the result pointed to Hawke's Bay's continued progression as a year-round destination.
Craggy Range Havelock North's Venita Simcox (marketing manager) and head sommelier Michael Bancks with a bottle of 2016 Te Kahu, which has won a major international award in London. Photo/ Paul Taylor.
"There's no doubting Hawke's Bay's appeal during our traditional tourism seasons.
"However, the rate of growth during winter over the past three years in particular is demonstrating the region's visitor offering is continue to evolve.
"For many people Hawke's Bay has a great deal to offer with events like F.A.W.C and the Air New Zealand Hawke's Bay marathon. The food, wine and cultural aspects make it an attractive destination year long", Saxton said.
"We had a particularly enjoyable winter", he said, and anecdotally, he was told the accommodation sector had weekends when they no vacancies.
"Hawke's Bay is living up to be one of the most desirable places in New Zealand, with an enviable depth of attractions."
Hawke's Bay Tourism industry association chairman Hamish Prins said most operators would be benefiting from a lengthening of the peak season into months which only a few years ago were comparatively quiet.
"Growth in visitor spend creates more confidence for businesses that benefit from tourism to continue investing in their offering, which in turn creates more reasons for people to visit Hawke's Bay. Simply put, it's a win-win situation for our region."
Hawke's Bay Tourism board chairman George Hickton said the industry was appreciative of the support it got via primary funder Hawke's Bay Regional Council, along with the support of the region's four territorial authorities and other partners.
"The entire region has benefited from the period of sustained growth in Hawke's Bay's visitor economy.
"This makes it vitally important that the industry continues to receive appropriate support, to ensure we can attract more than our fair share of visitors in the face of increased marketing spend by other regions."
Church Road winery chief winemaker Chris Scott as part of the F.A.W.C. wine and food festival. Photo/ Ian Cooper.
While Hawke's Bay slipped into fifth place for the June 2019 quarter in a recent New Zealand Regional Economic Scoreboard, it showed the region continued to grow.
The scoreboard is produced by ASB which takes the latest quarterly regional statistics and ranks the economic performance of New Zealand's 16 regional council areas.
Ratings are updated every three months, and are based on measures including employment, construction, retail trade and house prices.
The report showed that the strong property market was a big factor for the region's economic growth.
"Annual house price growth remains strong at over 12 per cent, while slowing house sales may be more of a case of a lack of listings than a case of lack of interest," the report stated.
"Indeed, with house building consents high, there's good reason to think that the region's economy still has momentum to sustain decent growth at least until the end of the year, if not beyond."
