Taranaki spending holding its own

Spending has dropped in Taranaki compared to 2019, but the region is further ahead than the main centres of the country on the road to recovery.

In the 12 months to the end of August, visitor spend was down 9.63 per cent on the previous year, to $380 million, according to a report from development agency Venture Taranaki to its owner, New Plymouth District Council.

In New Plymouth, the drop was 11.47 per cent to $304m. This compared to New Zealand as a whole falling 15.43 per cent.

In accommodation, total guest nights increased across New Plymouth and South Taranaki during July, in line with the school holidays, but fell slightly in Stratford. But people stayed longer in Stratford than they did in the rest of Taranaki, which indicated more business travellers in Stratford and South Taranaki, Venture Taranaki’s report said.

The spending downturn during level-four lockdown was obvious across the country, but Taranaki had a stronger recovery once the rules eased in June.

The region has also maintained a higher spending baseline than the main cities.

‘‘Taranaki continued to maintain strong consumer spending through the recent level two restrictions.’’

In the report on the September quarter, but presented last week, VT chief executive Justine Gilliland noted Taranaki appeared to be settling into a ‘‘new normal’’ and was faring better than most of New Zealand, certainly regarding people’s health.

However, the region is not immune. ‘‘Jobseeker numbers in Taranaki topped 5000 in August,’’ she said. ‘‘Economists are suggesting that the worst is likely still to come.

‘‘Our Taranaki economy remains resilient, and this is partly due to our strong food and fibre sector, which is our biggest GDP earner and to date largely unaffected by Covid-19.

‘‘Our citizens have answered the call to ‘ Go Local’, and we are holding on to our share of domestic tourism.’’

A more recent update on spending in Taranaki, for the week ending November 1, showed that spending for the period was less than 1 per cent down on the same week last year.

But different retailers have been affected differently – fuel and automotive was down 8.5 per cent but clothing, footwear and department stores were up 7.8 per cent.

Unsurprisingly, international cardholder spending was down 44.9 per cent compared to the same week last year, but New Zealand cardholder spending increased just 1.5 per cent.