With datasets provided by Marketview and the Ministry for Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE), Great South continues to track visitor spend across the region.
The information received from Marketview uses in-person card transactions to track the spending behaviours of visitors to the region.
For October, Marketview data shows Visitor Electronic Spend for Southland RTO was $17.3 million, up 14.9% on the same time as last year (STLY). While October Visitor Electronic Spend for Fiordland RTO was $4.6 million, down 25.5% on STLY.
The strong increase in Southland can be attributed to Invercargill spend being up $2 million on STLY.
AirBnB data shows strong occupancy during November for Invercargill (65%) and Stewart Island (80%), with strong lead booking times - 61 days for Stewart Island and 43 for Invercargill. However, occupancy was low in both Gore (33%) and Southland (24%).
Commercial Accommodation Data for Southland RTO stayed constant at 48% occupancy for November, while Fiordland RTO was at 21% occupancy.
An interesting emerging trend is the number of Australian’s searching for 'New Zealand', and New Zealand-related tourism products, following the announcement of a potential trans-Tasman bubble.