Date 25th May 2017
Hawke’s Bay hits the $600m Mark for Visitor Spend
The latest Monthly Regional Tourism Estimates released by the Ministry of Business, Innovations and Employment (MBIE)
today show a phenomenal growth for tourism expenditure across New Zealand with Hawke’s Bay tourism expenditure growth
rapidly rising above the national average.
For the year ending 30 April 2017, tourism expenditure for the Hawke’s Bay region hit $603 million, up 9% on the same
period last year – which is almost double the national average of 5% year on year growth.
Recent spend is even more encouraging. April in particular was a strong visitor spend month for Hawke’s Bay with
tourists spending $56m in the region, which represents a 23% uplift on April 2016. While part of this growth can be
attributable to Easter falling in April this year, this is greater than double the national average uplift of 11%, with
only the West Coast region pipping Hawke’s Bay at 28%.
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 for Hawke’s Bay over the shoulder season. April has become a busy period with the Mission Concert and
The Big Easy bringing in many visitors, and this is certainly reflected in this growth”.
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