Spending in Hospitality Sector Drops 1.4% Year-Over-Year Despite Increase in Core Retail Sales

New Zealand's hospitality sector saw spending drop 1.4% year-on-year in January, despite a 3.9% rise in core retail spending, according to data from Worldline NZ.

The hospitality sector, which includes cafes, restaurants, bars and hotels, typically sees spending peak in December and January.

However, December 2023 saw a 0.1% drop compared to the previous year and the trend continued into January.

Worldline NZ's chief sales officer, Bruce Proffit, said spending was down despite the disruption to trading activity that was caused by extreme weather events in late January 2023 – and that both summer months are down despite more visitors coming to New Zealand over this time.

Spending at hospitality merchants was 9.3% higher than pre-Covid levels in January 2019 in the North Island, but only 3.8% higher in the South Island.