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9.3% of Waikato employees work in tourism and hospitality

Microsoft Copilot for tourism teams in the Waikato

Visitor spend in the Waikato rose slightly, while many guests stayed fewer nights. The admin load, bookings, rosters and replies, still lands in the same Microsoft 365 apps.

EnquireWhere Copilot helps
Illustration generated with AI.
Employees in tourism and hospitality
20,294Waikato, February 2025
Share of Waikato employees
9.3%6 of 16 regions
Share across New Zealand
9.2%all regions, February 2025
Location quotient
1.01×close to the national share

Tourism and hospitality in Waikato

Tourism expenditure was about 3,465 million in the year to March 2025, up 0.3 per cent, while spending across the country did not move1. Regional council analysis of 2024 shows domestic visitors booking fewer nights and spending less, with international visitors lifting their spend3. Hobbiton runs from Matamata, Discover Waitomo runs the glowworm caves, and Zealong combines a tea estate with tours and a tea room.

Groups with several sites, or a busy inbox, get the most from Copilot in Outlook, Teams, Excel and Word. A receptionist or a reservations lead can summarise and draft. Prices, times and safety lines still need a person.

Paid employees in tourism and hospitality went from 19,251 in February 2020 to 20,294 in February 2025 (+5.4%).

Share of paid employees in tourism and hospitality, by region

Share of employees in tourism and hospitality by region, Waikato highlighted
RegionChartShareNZ×
West Coast 15.7% 9.2% 1.7×
Otago 14.4% 9.2% 1.6×
Nelson 11.9% 9.2% 1.3×
Tasman 10.0% 9.2% 1.1×
Bay of Plenty 9.5% 9.2% 1.0×
Waikato (this page) 9.3% 9.2% 1.0×
Canterbury 9.1% 9.2% 1.0×
Wellington 9.1% 9.2% 1.0×
Southland 9.1% 9.2% 1.0×
Northland 9.0% 9.2% 1.0×
Auckland 8.8% 9.2% 0.9×
Taranaki 8.7% 9.2% 0.9×
Marlborough 8.5% 9.2% 0.9×
Manawatū-Whanganui 7.7% 9.2% 0.8×
Hawke's Bay 7.3% 9.2% 0.8×
Gisborne 6.6% 9.2% 0.7×

Paid employees at business locations in the region, February 2025. The tick marks the national share. × is the regional share divided by the national share.

Source: Stats NZ, Business Demography Statistics, February 2020 and 2025.

What tourism and hospitality covers in Waikato

Divisions in tourism and hospitality, Waikato
DivisionChartEmployeesShareNZ×
Hospitality 15,475 7.1% 7.2% 1.0×
Arts and recreation 4,819 2.2% 2.0% 1.1×

ANZSIC06 divisions in this industry group: share of the region's paid employees, against New Zealand.

Source: Stats NZ, Business Demography Statistics, February 2020 and 2025.

Local context

  • Domestic tourism made up 88 per cent of regional visitor revenue, and the trends paper says 2024 visitors stayed less time and spent more.3
  • Across New Zealand, business and conference travel has made the weakest recovery, and the regional paper links that to wider use of virtual meetings.3
  • Waitomo cut funding to the regional tourism organisation by 60 per cent and Ōtorohanga cut it by 50 per cent. Hamilton city kept its contribution.2
  • The official regional site describes the Hauraki Rail Trail as a 160 kilometre ride linking Kaiaua with Te Aroha and Matamata, and notes the Ibis Tainui Hamilton reopening in November 2022.4

Organisations are named for local context only. No relationship with them is implied.

Towns in Waikato

Each town page has its own figures and local brief.

Or see Microsoft Copilot training across Waikato.

Where Copilot helps tourism and hospitality teams

  • Booking patterns in Excel

    Put occupancy or tour numbers in an Excel table. Ask Copilot which weeks are thin and which products carried the month. Check the arithmetic before you change a roster.

    • Duty managers and owners
    • Copilot in Excel

  • Guest threads in Outlook

    Copilot in Outlook can summarise a complaint or a group booking and draft a reply from the house rules. The sender confirms the date, the price and any access limit before it goes out.

    • Reservations staff
    • Copilot in Outlook

  • Shift handovers in Teams

    A Teams recap of the afternoon briefing gives the next shift the arrivals, the maintenance faults and the VIP notes. People who were with guests can catch up without another meeting.

    • Front office leads
    • Teams

  • Seasonal briefs in Word

    Copilot in Word can turn the service standard into a one-page brief for new seasonal staff. A supervisor checks allergen, safety and timing lines against the approved manual.

    • Training leads
    • Copilot in Word

  • A questions agent for the desk

    A Copilot Studio agent grounded in the current fact sheet can help staff answer repeat questions about parking, tour times and what to bring. It should show the source page. Live availability stays in the booking system.

    • Guest-services supervisors
    • Copilot Studio

A weekly occupancy note the team can trust

  1. Export the week's bookings to Excel and store it where the duty managers already work.
  2. Ask Copilot which days and products moved, then match the answer to the sheet.
  3. Draft a short handover in Word for the weekend team.
  4. Post it in Teams and link the export so a later question can be checked.

Courses

  1. 1Introductory

    Microsoft Copilot foundations

    A first hands-on session on Copilot Chat and Copilot in Outlook, Teams, Word, Excel and PowerPoint.

  2. 2Organisation

    Copilot rollout and readiness

    Prepare the tenant, choose a pilot, and measure whether people use Copilot well.

Tourism and hospitality in other regions

Other industries in Waikato

See Microsoft Copilot for tourism and hospitality across New Zealand, or all training in Waikato.

Tourism and hospitality in Waikato: questions

Is this useful for a two-person motel?

If those two people live in Outlook and Excel, yes. A single Copilot Chat habit, summarising mail and drafting replies, is often enough before anyone looks at a full licence for the whole roster.

Can it see our booking system?

Not unless you export, or your IT team later connects it. Training starts from the spreadsheet and the inbox you already have.

Do you travel to Matamata or Te Kūiti?

Yes. Sessions can be on site anywhere in the Waikato, or live in Teams if the roster makes a visit hard.

What should we prepare?

A booking export with guest names removed, one real enquiry thread, and the current fact sheet staff are supposed to follow.

Is this official Microsoft training?

No. TheColab teaches independently. Microsoft has not endorsed the course.

Train your tourism and hospitality team in Waikato

  1. ScopeHeadcount, sites, Microsoft 365 plan and licences, and the teams you want to start with.
  2. PlanWe propose a course, a pilot group and a format, and agree the files and meetings to use.
  3. TrainOn-site or over Teams, in Outlook, Word, Excel and Teams, with your own work.
  • In person
  • Remote
  • Half-day workshop
  • Full-day workshop
  • Team rollout

Independent training by TheColab. Not affiliated with Microsoft.

Enquire

Tell us about your team in Waikato. We reply by email with a suggested course and format.

We use these details only to reply to you, and store them securely with TheColab. Privacy

Sources

Written 4 October 2026. Employment figures come from Stats NZ Business Demography Statistics.