Date 13 April 2017

Consistent seasonal visitor growth for Hawke’s Bay

Hawkes’ Bay recorded New Zealand’s second largest guest night increase year on year with 9.4% growth in February as well as a 7% increase in visitor spend for the month.

Statistics New Zealand has released their latest Commercial Accommodation Monitor (CAM) report for February 2017, and MBIE has released their Regional Tourism Estimates, which indicates another month of solid growth for the region.

February 2017 in comparison to February 2016 showed a 9.4% increase in visitor nights – this equates to an additional 11,000 nights spent in commercial accommodation in Hawke’s Bay in February.

Domestic visitor nights recorded a substantial 14.9% increase, totalling 89,215 nights.

Occupancy rates also saw a huge increase rising to 77.7% for the month. This represents a 7.6% lift in occupancy (excluding holiday parks).

The best performing sectors within the Commercial Accommodation Monitor for Hawke’s Bay shows Hawke’s Bay Hotels were up 19%, Motels up 6%, and Holiday Parks 20.6%. Backpackers for the month did show a decline of 4%.

Hawke’s Bay Tourism has been using a seasonal strategy to promote Hawke’s Bay and its paying off.

Summer December 2016- February 2017 +10%

Autumn March - May 2016 +5%

Winter June – August 2016 +18%

Spring September – November 2016 +16%

This result goes hand in hand with the increase in visitor spend into Hawke’s Bays economy. Year-end February saw a 7% lift in spend for the region. $592m was spent by visitors to Hawke’s Bay in this twelve-month period.

Annie Dundas, General Manager of Hawke’s Bay Tourism said she was ecstatic with the result. “It is fantastic to see such a positive result and on the back of massive growth in January as well at +6.9%. It’s particularly good to see that our Seasonal approach to promoting Hawke’s Bay is paying off. Additional funding from the Hawke’s Bay Regional Council and great tourism industry support ensures we are promoting the region year round”.

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