Whanganui second-strongest performer of New Zealand's regional tourism organisations

Latest tourism growth statistics are positive for Whanganui, economic development agency Whanganui & Partners says. Photo / Bevan Conley

Whanganui has performed strongly this year in a visitor industry hit hard by Covid-19's international and national travel restrictions.

Latest figures from the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) show Whanganui had the second strongest year-to-year result of all New Zealand's regional tourism organisations (RTOs), reporting -1 per cent growth in 2020 while other RTOs experienced up to -26 per cent growth. Wairarapa led the pack with growth of 6 per cent.

In October Whanganui's visitor spend was up 28 per cent on the same period in 2019.

The outcome is significant and positive in a year when borders closed to international visitors and New Zealanders were limited by months of restricted movement, Whanganui & Partners visitor industries lead Paul Chaplow said.

A winter campaign undertaken by the economic development agency, which is the district's RTO, helped attract tourists at a time when visitors were looking for exciting domestic destinations and offered support to the visitor industry after lockdown, Chaplow said.

"There was a 33 per cent increase in tourism spend for July 2020 (from the previous year) and there has been an average growth in tourism spend of 21 per cent (July–October, 2020)."

Chaplow said it built on the record-breaking 11 per cent increase Whanganui experienced over summer.

Tourism New Zealand's broader domestic campaign "Do something new, New Zealand" is helping drive domestic travel, Chaplow said. With the overseas market no longer an option, many New Zealanders are looking for new experiences and places to visit.

"Our own marketing on top of this has helped lift the Whanganui region into the consideration set for potential visitors."

Whanganui & Partners' summer tourism campaign has been launched with fresh images and its engagement was being closely monitored, Chaplow said.

"This will be fine tuned and updated as we move through summer."

International travellers usually account for about 20 per cent of summer visitors, and the agency is focused on helping local operators capture as much of the domestic market as possible to help offset the loss of international tourists.