Credit, eftpos spending rises 5.67%

The Rugby World Cup is being credited with substantial increases in credit and eftpos spending in the South.

During last month, the Paymark transaction figure topped $277 million, a 5.67% increase on the amount spent in the region in September last year.

In Otago, 4,070,000 travel, hospitality and retail transactions in September 2011 fetched a total of $191.9 million in revenue (up 3.5% from last September).

In Southland, 1,640,000 transactions were made, hauling in $85.5 million - an 11.1% increase compared with a year ago.

Paymark chief executive officer Simon Tong said the figures showed an injection of Rugby World Cup-related spending, contrasting with more moderate general growth rates.

However, he warned other influences needed to be considered before judging the Rugby World Cup impact.

"Our figures show what is being spent via electronic transactions around the country, but as we have heard from a number of our merchants, tourists are using cash for a lot of their purchases.

"Also, pre-paid bookings and other agent bookings need to be considered as part of the total spending picture as well.

"From our perspective, since the Rugby World Cup began, there has been a pattern showing pockets of spending as tourists travel the country eating, drinking and enjoying the cup.

"This has been a huge bonus for some regions, particularly among hospitality merchants."

Nelson, Waikato and Southland's hospitality sectors enjoyed large increases on the day of local games and the next day - up 45%, 34% and 26% respectively from the corresponding days last year.

On other days in these regions, the hospitality spend increased at 11%, 7% and 14% respectively.

In other regions such as Otago and Auckland-Northland, the picture was similar but the game-time surge was relatively less obvious (15% and 14%).

Between games, hospitality spending growth dropped back to 6% in both regions.

In other parts of the country, the overall change in spending, both in the hospitality sector and across retail sectors in general, was modest.

Nationwide, foreign card spending during the month rose 29.4% from September last year, with an extra 254,000 transactions worth $32 million.

This brought the total value of all foreign card transactions for September this year to $154 million - a 3.4% increase from September last year.

"At a national level, spending within other sectors did not change significantly. Some spending increased, some decreased but there appeared little change elsewhere that could be related to the Rugby World Cup. Overall, the general situation remains tight," Mr Tong said.

- john.lewis@odt.co.nz