Welcome to the Destination Kaikōura Data Dashboard, providing real-time data & analytics helping stakeholders & local businesses understand the trends and dynamics of tourism in our beautiful region.
June 2025 Insights:
Kaikōura sees strong domestic spend but declines in occupancy
June was a month of contrasting trends for Kaikōura. Domestic card spend grew strongly (+8% YoY), significantly outperformed neighbouring regions, and built on an already positive year-end trend. Commercial accommodation faced challenges with a drop in total guest nights (-3% YoY) and occupancy, primarily due to fewer guest arrivals. Despite this, a positive trend of longer stays emerged across most accommodation types. Tourism-related employment declined for the month, driven by contractions in food and beverage and activity services.
Domestic day trips on the rise, international spend dips
An increase in total domestic card spend (+8% YoY) when compared with domestic guest night decline of -4% YoY suggested that either average spend had increased, or the prevalence of growing day trips. This could have been further substantiated by an increase in retail fuel from the domestic market leaping +23% YoY. International card spend declined -8% YoY against a positive result for international guest nights of +2% YoY could have signaled lower average spend, or fewer day trips.
Self-catering preference emerges amid changing traveller spend patterns
Domestic card spend on food and beverage serving fell -2% YoY (25% of total product spend), while retail grew +13% YoY (23% of total product spend), narrowing the gap and suggesting a growing preference for self-catering outside the summer season. In the international market, food and beverage serving rose +9% YoY (30% of total product spend) and retail surged +43% YoY (19% of total product spend), indicating a similar self-catering trend. International card spend on accommodation continued its steep decline (-52% YoY) in 2025, despite being the highest-ranked spend product in 2023 and during the first seven months of 2024.
Domestic card spend rises, outperforming RTOs in June
Domestic card spend grew +8% YoY in June, significantly outperforming neighbouring RTOs Marlborough (-4% YoY), Nelson Tasman (-14% YoY), and Hurunui (-1% YoY). This built on an already positive year-end trend of +4% YoY. The growth may have been boosted by events such as the Coldwater Surf Classic and the Three-Day Trial (marking its 80th year) over King’s Birthday weekend. Nearby domestic markets saw substantial increases: Tasman (+67% YoY), Nelson (+49% YoY), Marlborough (+11% YoY), and Canterbury (+6% YoY).
Gains overshadowed by declines, Japan's surge worth watching
International card spend declined -8% YoY, in contrast to domestic growth. Gains in the US (+13% YoY) and rest of Europe excluding Germany and the UK (+35% YoY) were outweighed by drops in Australia (-15% YoY) and the UK (-59% YoY). Although Japan represented only 3% of total market spend, it posted an unprecedented +522% YoY increase—which was worth monitoring in future reports for consistency.
Kaikōura occupancy dips despite rise in stay length
Kaikōura’s commercial accommodation guest nights fell -3% YoY, with occupancy down -2%pt. A +7% YoY rise in average stay length was offset by a -10% YoY drop in guest arrivals, leading to the overall decline in guest nights. Available stay units increased +3% YoY, contributing further to the occupancy drop. Kaikōura outperformed Marlborough in guest night trends (-4% YoY domestic and +2% YoY international, compared with Marlborough’s -8% YoY and -9% YoY respectively). Short-term rental occupancy over Matariki weekend was strong, at 78% on Friday and 77% on Saturday.
More travellers opt for longer stays, possibly for Matariki
Longer stays were recorded across most accommodation types: lodges and boutique accommodation (+27% YoY), large motels and apartments (20+ units) (+5% YoY), and holiday parks and campgrounds (+3% YoY). Smaller motels and apartments (6–20 units) saw a decline (-12% YoY). This trend may have been influenced by visitors staying for the entire Matariki weekend, with short-term rental occupancy averaging 44% in June.
Jobs drop again, with food and activity services hardest hit
Tourism-related employment fell -3% YoY in June, driven by declines in food and beverage (-14% YoY) and activity services (-17% YoY). Mackenzie (-2% YoY) and Hurunui (-3% YoY) experienced similar contractions in tourism-related filled jobs.