Food and beverage serving services was up $9m to $95m, while retail from fuel and other automotive products was up $7m to $116m.
A $4m rise to $77m was seen in accommodation services, while decreases were seen in passenger transport (down $2m to $61m) and cultural, recreation and gambling services (down $2m to $23m). Meanwhile, alcohol, food and beverages retail got a $4m boost to $112m.
Paul Davis, Northland Inc general manager regional promotions, said the domestic growth of an extra $10m was not surprising. Northland's proximity to Auckland was helping boost both domestic and international visitor numbers, he said.
"We are about the head into our third very good summer season ... the forecasted growth is set to continue."
The increased visitor spend would manifest into increased private sector investment across the region, which would hopefully result in further employment. Getting a boost in industry employment, with most tourism jobs being seasonal, was a challenge for operators.
"It's about providing activities that are available all year round, even if we are the 'winterless north'."
The off-peak marketing could be focused at international or domestic markets which were not concerned with weather-dependent activities, he said.
Davis said the increase in estimated spend showed Northland had a "respected brand".
There are a number of tourism projects on the boil that Davis said could help lift the off-peak visitor numbers - such as the Hundertwasser Arts Centre in Whangarei, the Twin Coast Cycle Trail and the Waitangi Mountain Bike Park.
Who's spending?The overseas guests helped bring food and beverage serving services spending to $44m (up from $38m and rising after a slight dip in 2013 at $37m), $35m on fuel and other automotive retail products (up from $29m) and $31m on retail (up from $24m). The estimated spend on passenger transport went from $24m to $29m, while accommodation services rose from $28m to $29m.
Cultural, recreation and gambling services saw a one million decrease to $9m. This has been declining since 2009, when it was at $16m.
Visitors spent $13m on alcohol, food and beverages retail, up from $11m in the previous year.
Growth from domestic spend was mostly balanced across all products, with retail sales recording the highest spend at $102m, up from $93m for the previous year.
Alcohol, food and beverages retail saw $98m spent in the region (up from $97m), while retail from fuel and other automotive products was $81m (up from $79m).
Domestic guests spent an estimated $48m on accommodation services (up from $45m), $51m on food and beverage serving services (up from $47m) and $34m on other tourism products, such as activities.
The majority of domestic spend came from Auckland registered electronic card holders ($164m), on retail ($32m), alcohol, food and beverages retail ($30m), retail from fuel and other automotive products ($29m) and food and beverage serving services ($23m).
Cards registered to Wellington clocked up $25m, mostly in transport ($7m) and retail ($4m) and Waikato visitors spending $24m - mostly retail, food and beverages.
Meanwhile, international spending was registered with Australian registered electronic card holders spending $56m, mostly in food and beverage services ($12m) and retail ($10m).
UK visitors were the next highest spenders, dumping $38m into the region in the year. They spent $10m on food and beverage services, $6m on accommodation and $6m on transport, as well as $5m on retail.
German visitors spent $25m - $7m on fuel and automotive retail, $5m on transport, $4m food and beverages and $4m on accommodation.
USA visitors spent $24m in Northland from March 2014 to March 2015, mostly on food and beverages ($5m) and retail ($5m), and the rest evenly spread across products.
Northland ranked number 8 for visitor spending, with Auckland topping the list with $6,496m,
Wellington (2nd/$2,166m), Christchurch (3rd/$1,752m), Queenstown (4th/$1,688m) and Bay of Plenty (7th/$669m).
