Visitors spending more in Whanganui as businesses look forward to summer

Whanganui's consumer spend for August was 7.7% higher than the national average. Photo / NZME

Whanganui is bucking consumer trends, with the district’s residents spending 5.9% more in August compared to the same month last year.

Consumer spending in the Manawatū-Whanganui region had dropped 1% for the same period and the country as a whole was down 1.8%.

That is according to a report from economic development agency Whanganui and Partners, which said there was notable spending growth in Whanganui on accommodation, fuel and automotive, and home and recreational retailing.

Spending in Whanganui by residents of the Manawatū district was up 24.9% on August last year.

There were also increases in the amount spent in Whanganui by residents of Palmerston North City (about 15%), Ruapehu (11%) and Rangitīkei (16%) but Tararua (-17.5%) and Wellington (-2%) decreased.

International spending rose by about 15%.

The agency, formerly a council-controlled organisation, was brought in-house at the Whanganui District Council earlier this year as part of cost-saving initiatives.

Its economic development manager, Jonathan Sykes, told councillors businesses and industry had experienced challenging conditions for two to three years because of high interest rates and inflation.

“I know businesses aren’t out of the woods and there is a bit of a lag effect here, but 2025 and beyond should see more capital freed up and more investment made.”

While consumer spending figures were not everything, they showed Whanganui had got through the tough period pretty well, he said.

In July, business owners in the CBD told the Chronicle winter had been slow and customers were watching what they were spending.

Jonathan Sykes says high interest rates and inflation have caused challenging conditions for businesses for two to three years. Photo / NZME

Mainstreet Whanganui chairwoman Nikki Oesterle said the district’s busy event season and the reopening of the Sarjeant Gallery would boost the economy and attract visitors from out of town.

“It’s been a tough winter for retail, not just in Whanganui but nationwide, and the last quarter wasn’t great either,” she said.

“We are seeing that things are picking up a little bit now. Hopefully, with summer coming, it’s going to change.

“This whole recession has to end at some point.”

Last month, Business Whanganui chief executive Helen Garner said businesses were “a pretty resilient bunch” and, in general, they were optimistic the current economic conditions would improve.

“Lower interest rates, power prices down, markets to pick up, things like that are going to make a big difference,” she said.

Oesterlie said Mainstreet Whanganui always helped out where it could and there were plans to build more of an advisory component to the organisation.

“The Three Bridges Marathon [December 1] is going to bring people from out of town and that’s the same with the [Mainstreet] Caboodle and Whanganui Opera Week.

“We don’t know exactly what the visitor numbers will look like with the Sarjeant but, hopefully, that’s really going to drive crowds.”

It was estimated that 80,000 people would visit the gallery, which reopened on November 9, in its first year of operation.

Mike Tweed is a multimedia journalist at the Whanganui Chronicle. Since starting in March 2020, he has dabbled in everything from sport to music. At present his focus is local government, primarily the Whanganui District Council.