Credit: Unsplash
Domestic TECT spend was up 9% in the year-ended February 2022 compared with the same period in the previous year.
Figure 1 shows domestic TECT spend increased in all regions in the year-ended February 2022 compared with the year-ended February 2021. The Southland region had the highest annual increase (up 18%) in domestic TECT spend compared with year-ended February 2021. Retail sales (fuel and other automotive products) experienced the largest increase in Southland, up 38%, compared with last year.
The Auckland region had the lowest growth in domestic TECT spend, up 1%. The lower growth is likely due to the surge in Omicron COVID-19 variant cases in this region, that would lead to less tourism activity.
Every region except Auckland (down 11%) showed increases in domestic TECT spend when compared with pre-COVID conditions in the year-ended February 2019. The West Coast saw the highest increase in domestic TECT spend in the year-ended February 2022 compared to 2019 (up 37%), closely followed by Tasman (up 36%).
Nationwide, monthly domestic TECT spend for February 2022 was down 10% on February 2021 (see Figure 1). Higher community transmission of the Omicron COVID-19 variant in the country has likely led to this reduction.
Every region in New Zealand experienced a fall in monthly domestic TECT spend in February 2022 compared to 2021. Nelson and West Coast experienced the largest decline, down 28% and 26% respectively.
When compared with February 2019 however, most regions saw increases with Gisborne and Northland experiencing the highest (up 30% and 25% respectively). Wellington, Auckland and Nelson were the only regions to see a fall in domestic TECT spend, down 9%, 6% and 4% respectively.
Figure 1: Percentage change in domestic tourism electronic card spend for the year-ended and month of February 2022 compared to previous years, by region
Source: Tourism Electronic Card Transactions, MBIE
Most product categories saw an increase in domestic TECT spend in the year-ended February 2022. Retail sales (fuel and other automotive products) saw the highest increase, up 25%, compared with last year. A large part of this increase is likely due to ongoing increases in fuel prices. Cultural, recreation and gambling services have seen a dip compared with last year (down 11%) and compared with pre-COVID year 2019 (down 5%).
Table 1: Percentage change in domestic tourism electronic card spend for the year to February 2022 compared with previous years, by product
| Product | Percentage change in domestic tourism electronic card spend for year-ended February 2022 compared with... | |
|---|---|---|
| Year to February 2021 | Year to February 2019 | |
Source: Tourism Electronic Card Transactions, MBIE
We recommend that users do not add domestic and international totals together. They should be used separately, because electronic card transactions (ECTs) in each market represent a different proportion of total tourism spend, meaning they cannot be directly compared. More information can be found here.
TECT data is now available in the STE in the form of interactive graphs. As well as visualising the data, you also have the ability to customise the graphs and can download them and the related data. Pivot tables are still available in the usual link to the TECT website.
The latest TECT data can be found in the Sustainable Tourism Explorer in the reliance on tourism section of the region area. Breakdowns include:
Our next stakeholder update highlighting March 2022 results will be in early May.