Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment figures released yesterday showed $389million was spent by tourists in the region during March, a 21% increase.
While businesses were busy in Dunedin over that period due to the Ed Sheeran concerts at Forsyth Barr Stadium, a regional breakdown of figures shows the star performers were Wanaka and Central Otago, which recorded 35% and 25% increases respectively compared with March 2017.
Wanaka had the benefit of this year being the on-year for the Warbirds Over Wanaka airshow, and neighbouring regions - especially the accommodation providers - usually have increased demand due to the event.
A spokeswoman for Tourism Central Otago said Easter and Chinese New Year both falling in March helped boost numbers in their region, as did an increase in the number of flights in to Queenstown Airport.
Enterprise Dunedin said the increase in tourism spending in the city was not entirely Sheeran-related.
"There was also the Highlanders v Crusaders southern derby, which attracted a number of Cantabrians, and the timing of Easter, as domestic travel is likely to have increased over the long weekend," economic development programme manager Fraser Liggett said.
"The increase in spending by international visitors [up 8%] is in line with national growth, however, it highlights that Dunedin continues to have a strong profile in key markets such as Australia, the United States and China.
"Cruise passengers were also up by 15% on the same period last season."
