"I was quite surprised at the number of overseas tourists because it's cold and wet in July.
I've also seen more Aucklanders who wanted to perhaps escape for a day or the weekend."
Her colleague Julia Prentice said some overseas visitors, particularly from the European countries and the US, visited Whangarei to escape the summer heat back home.
She met a couple from Texas who left home for Northland when temperatures hit 45C.
Tourists may not buy much art and craft but they would spend money on food, drinks, transport and accommodation, she said.
Northland Inc's regional promotions and tourism general manager, Paul Davis, said not just in July but the region's estimated tourism spending in the year to July was 10 per cent - more than the national figure of 6 per cent for the same period.
Northland earned an estimated $1,098m in the year July to compared with $1 billion the previous year. Far North received $515m, Whangarei $466m, and Kaipara $117m.
Nationally, tourists spent $26.9b between July last 2016 and July this year compared with $25.4b the year before.
"Our assessment is that the performance of the international markets like the US, UK, and Australia are doing very well. The Lions tour has had an effect as a lot of Lions fans came to Northland before and after the match," Mr Davis said.
The Lions' last test against the All Blacks at Eden Park was on July 8.
Mr Davis said Auckland was helping a fast-growing Northland market as visitors from the country's largest city increased their tours of nearby regions like Northland and the Bay of Plenty.
The outlook for summer looked good with a number of tourism projects nearing completion.
They include Fullers Bay of Islands launching two new vessels, Copthorne Hotel Bay of Islands opening 11 new rooms in November, revamp of the Duke of Marlborough Hotel in Russell, a new restaurant on the Paihia waterfront and another at the Paroa Bay Winery in Russell.