‘A great summer’
Visitor spending in the region hits record high
The Hauraki and Coromandel Districts registered their highest visitor spend for February on record, proving the local tourism industry is recovering more than well.
According to card transaction data released by Worldline (formerly known as Paymark), visitors spent a total of $35.14 million in the districts that month.
For comparison, at the same time in 2023, visitors spent $22.35 million in the districts, in 2022, they spent $31.01 million and in 2021, they spent $33.03 million.
Hadley Dryden, general manager of local tourism organisation Destination Hauraki Coromandel, said if cash and online booking spending were considered, the $35 million figure could likely be doubled.
“The increase will be a relief to local businesses who survived the devastating storm impacts last year,” Dryden said.
“It’s great to start building momentum, there’s still plenty of room for growth in visitation to the region.”
The Worldline figures also showed that a large chunk of the $35 million, namely $7.09 million, came from international visitors this year.
This meant, compared to the past four years, international spending had also reached a new peak from $3.47 million in 2023, $0.5 million in 2022 and 2021, and $6.55 million in 2020.
A similar upward trend is noticeable in the domestic spending figures which showed Kiwis spent $28.05 million in the Hauraki-coromandel area in Feb 2024, almost 10 more than at the same time last year when they spent $18.89 million.
Dryden said Hauraki Coromandel had the highest increase of domestic spending in the country (up 49 per cent).
However, this year’s February domestic visitor spend is not as high as in 2021 when domestic visitors spent $32.46 million in the area.
A further breakdown of the figures showed a spending increase of 75 per cent in the Thames-coromandel District and 15 per cent in the Hauraki District.
Dryden said the recently released figures, combined with a recovering international market, were a good reason to be optimistic for the year ahead.
Leading into summer, Destination Hauraki Coromandel also launched The Coromandel Cure campaign which showed positive results so far.
“Advertising stopped in the peak but picked up again to drive preference to travel in summer through to April. The return of international visitors to the region is definitely helping too.
“With the highest international visitor spend for February on record, even higher than pre-covid levels, the rest of the visitor season looks promising.”
Open roads, favourable weather and ocean conditions had contributed.
Dryden said the organisation would continue to highlight the region was open for business after a “relentless” three years of Covid and storm repercussions.
“The demand for a strong tourism recovery across all the communities has been unprecedented. This is not surprising, particularly in Thamescoromandel where tourism supports one in five jobs.
“Tourism, hospitality and retail have worked hard to maximise what has been a great summer.”
Wayne Darlington, owneroperator of adventure tourism business Canyonz, based in the Kauaeranga Valley, said he was keen to “build back better”.
“We’ve held on through the tough times and customer feedback continues to be great.
“We’re excited about the future potential of our business and what we could contribute to the region,” he said.
While tourism in the Hauraki Coromandel area has had a difficult few years the region’s businesses and communities had come together.
“The business associations have delivered additional promotional activity and events to support a strong summer,” Dryden said.
“After three consecutive years of challenges, businesses... have worked long hours to deliver worldclass experiences and great service. This response will help build demand into the future.”
The Coromandel Cure campaign was part of the MBIE recovery fund secured alongside Thames Coromandel District Council with additional funding support from Hauraki District Council.
Worldline (formerly known as Paymark) is New Zealand’s largest electronic card payment network.