Data from Whanganui & Partners shows spending from domestic and international travellers is up compared to previous years. Photo / Bevan Conley
New data received by the economic development agency Whanganui & Partners show the city’s profile continues to rise with both local and international tourists.
Acting chief executive Jonathan Sykes said an update from W&P data partner Marketview showed international visitor spending in the region last year was the best on record for the third quarter (July to September).
This record included years before the Covid-19 pandemic closed international borders.
Domestic visitor spending increased as well, up 20 per cent over the 12 months to March 2023 compared with the 12 months to March 2019.
Trends of increased spending continued into April, as data showed consumer spending for the month was up 4.9 per cent compared with April last year.
This data is from Tourism Electronic Card Transactions (TECT) collected by the Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment (MBIE).
TECTs are used by MBIE to present electronic card transactions attributable to tourism without any attempt to represent total spending, which Whanganui & Partners considered the most accurate measure.
The agency’s strategic lead of visitor industries, Paul Chaplow, believed Cyclone Gabrielle’s damage to the East Coast had redirected some visitors to other regions and local operators had backed this up.
W&P also had a successful promotional campaign over the summer, with its Discover Whanganui website having over 100,000 visits and a pocket guide to the city being produced.
“When we see a correlation between significantly high visitor spend, our promotional activity and our website and social media statistics, it’s a good indication that Whanganui’s profile is growing,” Chaplow said.
Unique Whanganui River Experience owner-operator Hayden Potaka said he had seen an increase in international travellers taking canoe trips down the river, but much of the increase had not been with his business.
He said most international tourists tended to go with freedom hires, which rent canoes to people to explore the awa as they choose, while his business offered guided tours.
“We haven’t seen a significant increase in that ... we’ve seen an increase from Covid, but not in terms of our share.”
Potaka is also the chair of the Whanganui Māori Regional Tourism Organisation and said people in the hospitality sector had seen more of an uptick in business, especially operators of cafes and bars.
“People have had to reinvent themselves in the area.”
Many restaurant operators had to reorganise their businesses to account for the increased cost of food and the habits of customers preferring convenience rather than dining in.
Whanganui & Partners data agreed with Potaka, with cafes, bars and restaurants recording the highest yearly growth, up 11.9 per cent on the previous year.
Mint Cafe and Frank Bar + Eatery owner Lez Kiriona said it had been a surprisingly busy few months for both his businesses, despite the gloom of financial forecasts.
Instead of focusing on forecasts, he said staff at Frank and Mint had put their heads down and kept working.
“For us, it’s just a matter of looking at things differently and just going, this is what they’re saying, let’s just not worry about it and get on with it,” Kiriona said.
“If you can do that, you can really get through the tough times.”
Having been through other recessionary periods meant they had more experience of what to do, so they didn’t feel a need to panic.
“It’s always different, there’s always little things you’ve got to do and subtly change but overall it’s pretty much the same. If you focus on your service, everything should come in line.”
There had been an influx of international customers at Mint, but less so at Frank.
He said this was because Frank was open at night, so people needed more knowledge of Whanganui to know when to go to it.
Mint was more accessible, being open during the daytime and allowing people to walk in.
Whanganui River Top 10 Holiday Park manager Ben Kay said there had been international tourists staying at the park over the past few months, but that had been expected with the reopening of borders.
However, it was not at the same level as before Covid.
“Obviously we haven’t had any for the last few years and now we have, so I wouldn’t say it was back up to what it was, but we have had some international tourists come through, but nothing major, nothing to write home about.”
This time of year was quieter in terms of international visitors.
“After Easter is always quieter, that’s when we tend to get more Australians coming through.
“During the summer we did have people coming through from all over the place, but that’s just sort of died off now.”
He expected international visitor numbers to pick up again in the summer.