MEDIA RELEASE

29th May 2017

WHANGANUI EVENTS KEEP TOURISM NUMBERS UP

Continuing the trend from February and March it looks like Whanganui’s April tourism numbers are again up – a contrast to the national monthly comparisons of 2016 and 2017.

More importantly the value of the tourism spend in Whanganui is increasing – growth from April 2016 to 2017 was 8% compared to the national total of 5%. This amounts to approximately $125 million in tourism spend for the year to date with spend on accommodation approximately $9 million. Most of this is from other Kiwi’s visiting and is the result of events hosted here according to Lyn Cheyne, Strategic Lead – Destination for Whanganui and Partners.

“International spend is about 18% of the annual total but the rest is the domestic market. Whanganui is showing some great growth for these months and it can be attributed to the number of events we have hosted in March and April. We’ve had the Artist Open Studios event, the NZ Secondary Schools Triathlon, the Parapara 100th Year Celebration Rally, the V8 Jet Sprints night event, River City Park-Up and the Easter Fishing Contest,” said Lyn.

Figures including motorhomes, Airbnb, and those visiting family and friends show a total of 68,615 guest nights for April 2017 and the highest number of day visits recorded in the last two years at approximately 42,000.

Our biggest international spend comes from Australia, followed by the UK and then Germany and the USA.

Ends.

Whanganui and Partners is the council controlled organisation tasked with economic development for the Whanganui district and includes the tourism sector for the district.

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