Sports events pull in visitors
‘‘We take for granted the facilities we have here.’’ Peter Crawford, Palmerston North City Council economic adviser
Palmerston North and the Manawatu¯ -Whanganui region may not be what people think of for a glamorous getaway, but visitors are increasingly flocking to the region for more practical reasons.
Latest tourism income figures show spending in Manawatu¯ Whanganui has increased 5 per cent in the past year, and has gone from $693 million in the year to February 2009, to $993m in the year to February 2018. In the past year, visitors spent $400m in Palmerston North alone.
Kiwis are far and away the biggest group of travellers affecting the local economy, with $821m spent by domestic visitors in Manawatu¯ -Whanganui in the year to February, compared with $44m spent by Australians, who are the next biggest group, data from the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment shows.
Palmerston North, in particular, has found its niche, offering shopping and large facilities to visitors from surrounding regions, said Peter Crawford, economic adviser for Palmerston North City Council.
The city does well from conferences, large sports events and visitors attracted by its wide collection of education and science institutes.
‘‘It’s so much easier here – that’s an important part of it – we have a very compact centre, so everything’s close to the accommodation, and we have got quite a big share of motel accommodation, rather than hotels.’’
Wellingtonians, too, feel the attraction of their fellow windy city. ‘‘One-fifth of our money comes from the Wellington region – people who want to get a break from Wellington, and people who come shopping here,’’ Crawford said.
‘‘A lot of residents of Wellington city drive out to Lower Hutt or Porirua because of the parking. So they are prepared to come here, because we really have a great city centre and shopping malls that are part of the city centre and you have this compact collection of shops. And a lot of people come over from Whanganui [to shop].’’
The region as a whole had a strong collection of drawcards when put together, he said.
‘‘I always challenge people about the image, because there’s a view that people don’t want to come here, but the data shows that they do come here.
‘‘We take for granted the facilities we have here.’’
The Esplanade playground and riverside walks were good examples, he said.
The expanded Manawatu¯ River trail would be a popular attraction, and mountainbiking trails were being developed at the Arapuke Forest Park near Palmerston North. ‘‘It just adds to what people can do while they are here.’’
While the international visitor numbers were ‘‘quite low’’, they were growing, he said.
‘‘There’s more work being done to get people off State Highway 1. The rugby museum has been really helpful for that, and Wildbase Recovery Centre is expected to bring in a lot more international people as well.’’
The recovery centre, where people will be able to watch injured birds as they rehabilitate, is expected to open about August.
Retail sales were the top category of spending for visitors to Manawatu¯ -Whanganui, with $271m spent in the general category for the year to February, while food and alcohol service came in at $139m in the same period.
Hospitality New Zealand Manawatu¯ manager Chris Hince said his industry was having a good year ‘‘across the board’’, and visitors made a noticeable difference to local hospitality spending.
Conferences, sports groups, tertiary education and the armed forces drew significant spending in hospitality, he said. Big events such as stockcar meets and graduations also helped.