Pūrongorongo
Data & Insight Reports
These reports serve as an extension of the dashboards available on DISH, offering timely and comprehensive data and insights tailored to a broad range of audiences.
While the dashboards provide an at-a-glance overview, these reports delve deeper, offering further insights specific to the Murihiku Southland region. The reports provide up-to-date information to support local decision-making, planning, and development.
Tourism Reports
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Q2 2026 Murihiku Southland Tourism Report
The latest quarter from April to June reflected a mixed but generally resilient performance across Murihiku Southland’s tourism sector. While overall visitor spend continued to grow and accommodation performance strengthened, several visitor attractions and event measures recorded lower activity than the same period last year.
Regional tourism performance remained resilient despite softer domestic visitor spending. While this outcome would typically be driven by Fiordland, where international visitor expenditure increased by 24.4%, growth in the Fiordland RTO for this quarter was modest at 1%. Notably, the Southland RTO also recorded growth of 0.9% despite a 6.2% decline in domestic visitor spending, indicating that strong international demand is helping to offset domestic market weakness across the wider region, rather than being concentrated solely in Fiordland.
International visitor spend increased substantially during the quarter, while Piopiotahi Milford Sound visitation and commercial accommodation occupancy rates also continued to improve through higher occupancy rates. Growth in Airbnb listings and occupancy rates further demonstrated ongoing visitor demand across the region’s accommodation sector.
At the same time, some visitor attractions experienced lower visitation levels compared with the previous year, and the number of large-scale events and cruise ship visits declined. These results reflect changing travel patterns, broader economic conditions, and variability in event scheduling throughout the year.
Overall, the quarter reinforced the value of Southland’s diverse tourism offering and highlighted the continued importance of attracting both international and domestic visitors to support sustainable regional tourism growth.
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Economic Reports
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Murihiku Southland Yearly Economic Report: Jul 2025 - Jun 2026
The latest economic indicators present a mixed but broadly resilient picture for Murihiku Southland. Economic output has strengthened, while population has continued to grow. At the same time, unemployment has increased and the number of businesses has slightly decreased.
Regional GDP reached $9.94 billion in the year to June 2025, up 9.8% from the previous year. The increase was driven largely by stronger commodity prices, particularly for key export sectors, resulting in a substantial increase in economic output across the region.
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Housing Reports
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Jan-Jun 2026 Murihiku Southland Housing Insights
The Murihiku Southland Housing Insights Report provides a six-monthly overview of housing market conditions across the region, bringing together data on house prices, rents, housing affordability, housing supply, social housing, Airbnb activity and residential development. The report tracks changes over time and highlights how housing trends vary across Southland’s communities.
The January to June 2026 update shows housing demand remains relatively strong, with house prices and rents continuing to increase despite softer sales activity. Population growth, regional development projects and ongoing labour demand are contributing to housing pressures, while building consent activity highlights where new housing development is occurring. The report also explores emerging influences on the housing market, including short-term accommodation growth, social housing provision and residential construction activity.
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