He said while some destinations, including Auckland and Queenstown, were doing "incredibly well" growing tourism, "we're not breaking into a high growth phase because we simply don't have the money to compete with them."
A report to the council from Hawke's Bay Tourism general manager Annie Dundas included figures showing the region was the sixth biggest generator of visitor spending in the year to March 2014.
Domestic and international visitors spent $550 million in Hawke's Bay, placing the region behind Auckland ($1.8 billion), Wellington ($1.5 billion), Queenstown ($1.4 billion), Christchurch ($1.3 billion) and Waikato ($1 billion).
Hawke's Bay's spend put it ahead of other regions including Bay of Plenty ($500 million), Nelson ($490 million) and Rotorua ($470 million).
Asked about Mr Hickton's comments on the funding boost required to lift the local tourism industry's performance, Hawke's Bay Chamber of Commerce CEO Wayne Walford said he would need details on what targets the agency thought it could achieve with more money before assessing the need.
"If it was going to offer more jobs, more opportunities and make the local tourism sector more sustainable, I agree, but I don't know the detail," he said.
Meanwhile, Mr Hickton told yesterday's meeting Hawke's Bay was set to benefit from being the only region involved in a trial with telecommunications company Spark to track visitor movements via cellphone usage.
"It will give us accurate data on who is coming to our region, from where, and how long they are staying," he said.
"It could totally revolutionise our understanding of our visitors. It's pretty exciting."
Mr Hickton said he expected the trial would result in "some quite interesting information" to share with the council within three to six months.
