Spending in the Bay of Plenty by Kiwi tourists eclipsed pre-Covid levels by $78 million in the year to October 2021. Photo / NZME
Spending in the coastal Bay of Plenty by Kiwi tourists eclipsed pre-Covid levels by nearly $80 million in the year to October, card data shows.
Retailers and food and beverage sellers are enjoying the spending boom but other businesses and experts say the benefit isn't being spread equally across sectors.
The Bay of Plenty earned $627m from domestic tourism card transactions in the year ending October 2021 — $78m more than domestic tourism earnings before Covid-19.
The information comes from data gathered by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment recording the amount spent in electronic card transactions.
The data does not include other forms of spending such as cash, pre-purchases or online transactions.
According to the ministry's data for the coastal region under Tourism Bay of Plenty, domestic tourists spent $627m in the 12 months ending October 2021, $529m the previous year and $549m in the same period before the pandemic
The month of highest revenue for the Bay was January 2021, when visitors spent $79m.
Domestic tourists spent most on retail sales, a total of $220m by October 2021 up from a total spend of $181m in 2019.
Before the pandemic, the Bay of Plenty earned $70m from international tourism. In the year to October, that figure was reduced to $35m.
Papamoa Plaza manager David Hill said there had been a frantic scramble to recover after lockdowns but he couldn't agree more with the ministry's information.
"We've definitely seen that. We're well up on previous years.
"People are not spending their money on airfares. Instead, they're coming to holiday in paradise."
Hill said he noticed shoppers were spending in larger quantities.
"Instead of coming in three or four times a week they come in twice and do a bigger spend. People have been getting a lot more organised and doing their shopping in one hit."
Hill said Papamoa Plaza was experiencing a high rate of foot traffic and turnover of visitors.
"We've got smiling retailers, happy to be trading and happy to be open, happy to be dealing with people."
Hill said he did not think these circumstances would change as long as there was uncertainty around the international border.
The Berry Boys co-owner Scott Muncaster said the ice cream business was going through the busiest year it's ever had.
"We're really happy with how we're going. Parked on Ōhope Beach, we're in the best spot in the country to sell ice cream."
Muncaster said he was nervous going into 2021 but "we just went off with a bomb".
"People can't travel overseas. So anyone who has money has a little bit of extra coin to spend on ice cream."
Muncaster said since the beginning of summer the steady stream of customers had never stopped.
"Normally by now people are going home but we've been getting a second wave. People who have done the New Year shift are coming out."
Tauranga Chamber of Commerce chief executive Matt Cowley told the Bay of Plenty Times the Bay's biggest market was people visiting friends and family.
"Places like the Bay of Plenty are popular because we're only a four-hour drive for half of New Zealand's population."
Cowley believed Tauranga was busier last summer and businesses' profits would be eroded by increases in costs.
"This means tourism and hospitality businesses are working harder, but they may not be better off."
Cowley said the region's businesses needed international borders to open so they could recover from Covid-19.
"Young and skilled Kiwis are leaving New Zealand to live overseas but we're not replacing them with skilled migrants or Kiwis returning home."
Tourism Bay of Plenty general manager Oscar Nathan said support from domestic visitors had not been evenly distributed across every business.
"Domestic visitors spend differently to international visitors, so spending on food and beverage services, tourism products and retail have shown noticeable increases, while accommodation providers and transport operators have suffered significant losses."
Nathan said he did not believe Covid-19 vaccination rates affected the ministry's figures.
"No DHB regions had reached the 90 per cent double-vaccinated target by [October 2021].
"We're now all aware of how unpredictable Covid is and what the future impact of variants like Omicron might have on our sector."
Nathan said the region's high vaccination rates and traffic light system should help businesses to operate more consistently moving forward.
Waihī Beach Paradise Resort co-owner Peter West said he was seeing a lot of forwarding bookings to April.
"Waihī Beach has been building up every year for the past five years. We've had a very busy winter and a very busy summer."
West said business owners' experiences could differ depending on what kind of accommodation they provide.
"We've got a unique property here at the beach. We're very fortunate in the Bay. Let's just hope [business] doesn't get interrupted by whatever happens next."
Mount Backpackers general manager Regina de Jong said opening the international border would really help the business.
"We target mostly people who have travelled from aboard. At the moment we see a decline there because the borders are closed.
"We definitely have more wiggle room this summer. Before Covid, we were booked every night."
De Jong said Mount Backpackers was picking up some of the domestic tourism market on weekends and over the holidays.
"[But] the border is very significant for us. We will probably see a significant shift once those borders open."
Waimarino Adventure Park owner Blair Anderson said, in his opinion, not a lot of tourism businesses were seeing that growth.
"If I was getting my share of that gross I would be an extremely happy person.
"They could spend on retail anywhere. That's not tourism. That's basically domestic spend."
Anderson said overall Waimarino Adventure Park was still operating at 90 per cent lower than pre-Covid levels.
"It's definitely lower. We're not operating how we used to operate pre-Covid and that's just calculating the domestic tourism."
Anderson said the statistics and numbers could not explain why some tourism businesses were going under.
Tauranga Crossing chief executive Lauren Riley said the shopping centre had continued to grow over 2020 and 2021.
"Our community is mainly locals from around the Tauranga and Bay of Plenty region who visit the centre frequently.
"In line with previous years, there is a spike in visits from people from other regions over the peak summer period."
Riley said the major change in shopping behaviour during the pandemic was an early "stocking up" of household basics.
"But people are now confident that shopping normal is possible and safe at all levels and phases."
A majority in the community wanted the money back, but the council chose to reallocate it.