WELLINGTON, Oct. 11 (Xinhua) -- Overseas visitors helped to raise spending on food, drink and accommodation with debit and credit cards in New Zealand last month, the government statistics agency said Tuesday.
Total retail spending using electronic cards rose 6.1 percent year on year to 4.7 billion NZ dollars (3.33 billion U.S. dollars) in September, with spending on hospitality up 16 percent, according to Statistics New Zealand.
"The hospitality spending increase coincides with an increasing number of international visitors to New Zealand," business indicators senior manager Neil Kelly said in a statement.
Retail spending was up 1.9 percent from August - the biggest month-on-month percentage increase since May 2006 - following a 1.2-percent drop in August.
Core retail spending, which excludes the vehicle-related industries, increased 2.3 percent in September 2016 - the biggest percentage rise since January 2006 - after a 1.4-percent decrease in August.
