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Infometrics has released its latest economic data and it shows as of September 2024, the West Coast region of New Zealand emerged as a strong performer in the country’s tourism sector, recording a whopping 10.4 per cent increase in visitor spending.
This translates to a $48.1 million boost, raising total tourism revenue in the region to $511 million for the year. Guest nights in the region also saw significant growth, rising by 4.1 per cent to reach 1,317,200, well above the national growth rate of 1.7 per cent.
This strong growth comes as the national tourism expenditure showed slight gains of just 0.9 per cent over the same period. According to the Infometrics data, the national increase was driven by a 42 per cent rise in international tourism spending, offsetting a 5.5 per cent decline in domestic tourism expenditure.
However, international visitor arrivals have remained below 90 per cent of pre-pandemic levels, and global economic challenges are expected to constrain further growth in the near term.
West Coast outshines other regions
The West Coast outshone other regions in visitor spending growth for the year ending September 2024. Tasman followed with a 7.4 per cent increase, while regions like Auckland and Wellington recorded declines of -0.6 per cent. Taranaki saw the steepest drop at -4.7 per cent. These figures highlight the West Coast’s exceptional performance despite uneven regional growth.
SH6 reopening a welcome boost, but long-term concerns remain
The expected reopening of State Highway 6 is seen as a critical development for the region’s tourism.
“We’re relieved to see SH6 is on track to reopen this Friday, November 22, Waka Kotahi/NZTA and the contractors have worked incredibly hard to restore such a vital roading connection,” says Development West Coast destination and tourism manager Andrew Aitken.
“This touring route is critical for our visitors to flow through to, not only South Westland, but also into other northern parts of the Coast.”
However, he warned of long-term reputational risks for the region.
“While the reopening is great news, the long-term reputational risk remains a serious concern. Feedback from some inbound tourism operators suggests that, without consistent infrastructure reliability, the West Coast could be at risk of being excluded from future itineraries,” he says.
The challenges are not new for the region, and Andrew recalls similar issues following the 2018 road closures.
“After the 2018 road closures, many China group agents rerouted their itineraries to exclude the West Coast in favour of destinations such as Dunedin and Oamaru. Now, we’re seeing similar hesitations from other markets.
“The stakes are high, given the importance of international group tours with around $100 million of annual visitor spending coming from international group tours, any potential disruption to this market would be concerning.
“Reassuring visitors and rebuilding confidence will take time, especially as international markets require reliability and certainty in infrastructure,” says Andrew.
