Screen-print illustration of the island-dotted Bay of Islands seen from Paihia’s shore — Illustration generated with AI.

35.28° S, 174.09° E. Far North District, Northland (Te Taitokerau)

Microsoft Copilot training in Paihia

Paihia’s boat operators and market traders can practise a Microsoft 365 route from source file to customer message. Copilot training can use a sample Excel enquiry list and a checked Outlook draft.^5,6,7,9

Enquire Read the local brief

65.0% of Paihia’s employed residents are in desk-based roles.

	A	B	C	D
1	Role type	Paihia	NZ	Diff (pts)
2	Desk-based	65.0%	63.6%	+1.4
3	People-facing	11.4%	9.0%	+2.4
4	Hands-on	24.3%	27.4%	−3.1
5	Employed residents	840	2,622,534

About 546 people in desk-based roles. 2023 Census, counted where people live.

Rows 2 to 4: ANZSCO major groups 1, 2, 5, 6 / 4 / 3, 7, 8. Stats NZ 2023 Census, employed residents. Proxy per ILO 2025; not a forecast.

Residents: 1,6202023 Census
Business locations: 348Feb 2025, +5.5% since 2020
Employees (jobs here): 780at local businesses, Feb 2025
Self-employed or employers: 23.9%of employed residents, NZ 16.2%
Drive to Whangārei: 64 min70 km by road

What AI means for work in Paihia

5 findings from Stats NZ data for Paihia, and what each means for Microsoft Copilot training.

Workforce by occupation group, Paihia against New Zealand

65.0% of employed residents in Paihia work in desk-based roles, against 63.6% across New Zealand. Desk-based roles live in Outlook, Teams, Word and Excel, which is where Copilot works. A broad rollout has plenty of people to benefit: plan the pilot group and the champions first.

Employed residents by occupation group, Paihia and New Zealand, 2023 Census
Occupation group	People	Paihia	NZ
Managers	240	28.6%	18.3%
Professionals	144	17.1%	26.8%
Technicians and trades workers	114	13.6%	12.5%
Community and personal service workers	96	11.4%	9.0%
Clerical and administrative workers	90	10.7%	10.8%
Sales workers	72	8.6%	7.8%
Machinery operators and drivers	15	1.8%	5.9%
Labourers	75	8.9%	9.0%

Desk-based = ANZSCO major groups 1, 2, 5 and 6 (managers, professionals, clerical and administrative, sales): roles where AI assistance is most applicable. Broad proxy informed by ILO 2025; not measured adoption or an employment forecast. People-facing = major group 4. Hands-on = major groups 3, 7 and 8.

Source: Stats NZ, 2023 Census, usually resident employed people; ILO, Generative AI and jobs: a refined global index of occupational exposure (2025).

Hospitality: 52.5% of local jobs, 7.3× the national share

Top employer: hospitality, 410 jobs (52.5%). Heat cells mark industries over-represented against New Zealand. Plan Copilot use cases by department in the largest employers first.

Share of paid jobs by industry, Paihia and New Zealand, February 2025
Industry	Jobs	Share	NZ	×
Hospitality	410	52.5%	7.2%	7.3×
Retail	100	12.8%	9.3%	1.4×
Property and rental	50	6.4%	1.5%	4.2×
Construction	45	5.8%	8.2%	0.7×
Transport and warehousing	40	5.1%	4.2%	1.2×
Education	35	4.5%	8.5%	0.5×
Health and social care	35	4.5%	12.0%	0.4×
Professional services	18	2.3%	8.3%	0.3×
Manufacturing	12	1.5%	9.4%	0.2×
Public administration	12	1.5%	6.4%	0.2×

Share of paid employees at business locations in the area, by ANZSIC06 industry division. × is the local share divided by the national share.

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

Business locations +5.5% and employees −21.2%, 2020 to 2025

Paid employees 990 (2020) to 780 (2025), −21.2% against +5.0% nationally. Business locations 330 to 348. Largest job gain: construction (+10). Largest loss: transport and warehousing (−80).

Business locations: 330348 in 2025, from 2020; +5.5% NZ +9.6%
Employees (jobs here): 990780 in 2025, from 2020; −21.2% NZ +5.0%

Change in employees by industry in Paihia, February 2020 to February 2025
Industry	2020	2025	Change
Construction	35	45	+10
Media and telecoms	3	6	+3
Professional services	15	18	+3
Transport and warehousing	120	40	−80
Hospitality	480	410	−70
Retail	120	100	−20

Geographic units (business locations) and paid employees, February of each year. Small counts are randomly rounded by Stats NZ, so small changes can be noise.

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

Remote readiness: work at home and household internet

Remote sessions fit how people here already work, and live training over Teams reaches staff across sites.

25.4%

Mainly worked from home, census day 2023

New Zealand 17.7%

86.1%

Households with internet access

New Zealand 90.5%

Main means of travel to work on census day, and access to the internet in occupied private dwellings.

Source: Stats NZ, 2023 Census, usually resident employed people.

Self-employed and employers: 23.9% (New Zealand 16.2%)

A high share of small operators. Copilot suits organisations on Microsoft 365 Business plans, so check your plan before training; Copilot Chat may already be included.

23.9%

self-employed or employers

New Zealand 16.2%

Employed residents whose status in employment is employer, or self-employed without employees.

Source: Stats NZ, 2023 Census, usually resident employed people.

Copilot for Paihia’s largest employers

An itinerary file, a market notice and a ferry timetable have different owners. The worksheet should state which document is current and who confirms each public answer.^5,6,7,9

Boat tours and ferries

Use an invented Excel boat-enquiry register to draft Outlook replies, with the operator verifying trip and departure details.^5,6

Visitor retail

Prepare a Word market notice from approved Village Green information and ask the organiser to check the event details.^7,9

About Paihia

Paihia is a Bay of Islands visitor centre with a strong marine-tourism presence: the regional tourism directory lists numerous boat-trip operators based in the town, while Far North District Council says Northland Ferries connects Paihia and Russell on a 15-minute crossing. Paihia Village Green hosts an arts-and-crafts market on selected cruise-ship days, and the council reports retail activity at the Paihia i-SITE. In August 2024, the council forecast 70 cruise visits carrying almost 130,000 passengers through the following May; this was a forecast for the 2024-25 season, not a final count. Business Bay of Islands describes itself as an incorporated society serving Paihia, Russell and Opua, with business advocacy, destination marketing and networking activities.^4,5,6,7,8,9

Microsoft Copilot ideas grounded in Paihia

Visitor services and cruise-linked artisan retail

Prepare a cruise-day stock brief
A market organiser or shop manager could use Copilot in Excel to compare their own stock and sales workbook with a calendar of market days, then draft a short reorder brief for staff. The person responsible checks the figures and supplier details before placing orders.⁷

Why here: Focus Paihia says the Village Green artisan market runs on qualifying Bay of Islands cruise-ship days from September to May and can host up to 35 stalls, making those dates a useful local planning dimension.
- Copilot in Excel
Turn i-SITE sales notes into supplier updates
A visitor-centre team could ask Copilot in Outlook to draft a supplier update from approved sales notes and internal product information. Staff can check the product names and amounts against their original records before sending it.⁹

Why here: Far North District Council's March 2026 i-SITE report describes Paihia retail opportunities after a mid-2025 refurbishment and names local-product suppliers, a concrete setting for supplier communications.
- Copilot in Outlook
- Microsoft Graph grounding on company files
Build a partner deck for Paihia makers
A small retail or market team could use Copilot in PowerPoint to turn approved maker biographies, product notes and seasonal information into a draft presentation for accommodation or tour partners. The team checks each maker's wording and permissions before sharing it.⁷

Why here: Focus Paihia invites applicants to the Village Green market to submit product photographs and an artist statement, so a consented collection of maker material could support partner introductions.
- Copilot in PowerPoint
- Microsoft Graph grounding on company files

Marine tourism and passenger transport

Summarise ferry-service handovers
A passenger-transport team could use Copilot in Teams to turn its own shift notes into a concise handover covering open customer questions, approved notices and follow-up tasks. A supervisor checks operational details before the next shift uses it.⁵

Why here: Northland Ferries connects the Paihia and Russell terminals throughout the day, with a council-listed 15-minute crossing, so clear shift handovers can support a service with frequent departures.
- Copilot in Teams
Compare tour enquiries with booking records
A tour operator could use Copilot in Excel to summarise its own enquiry and booking workbook by product and date, then draft a list of questions for the sales team. The team checks the source rows and uses the result as a planning aid, not a forecast.⁶

Why here: The Visit Bay of Islands directory lists several Paihia-based boat-trip operators and distinct tour products, giving a local reason for operators to understand their own enquiries by activity.
- Copilot in Excel
Draft a tour-partner briefing in Word
An operator could use Copilot in Word, grounded in its approved company files, to turn product notes into a short briefing for accommodation or visitor-centre partners. The operator confirms itinerary wording and removes any detail that has not been approved for external use.⁶

Why here: The regional directory shows Paihia operators spanning cruises, sailing and island trips, so each business can prepare a partner briefing that describes only its own service.
- Copilot in Word
- Microsoft Graph grounding on company files

What Paihia does

Marine tourism and passenger transport. The Bay of Islands tourism directory lists multiple boat-tour and cruise businesses as based in Paihia, including The Rock Adventure Cruise, Fullers Bay of Islands, Explore Bay of Islands, Island Getaway Tours and R Tucker Thompson. Far North District Council identifies Northland Ferries as the operator of the passenger and vehicle ferry linking Paihia and Russell, with a 15-minute crossing. The sources establish a visible local operator cluster but do not provide Paihia employment totals or business sizes.^5,6 Named in public sources: Northland Ferries⁵, Fullers Bay of Islands⁶, Explore Bay of Islands⁶.
Visitor services and cruise-linked artisan retail. Focus Paihia describes an arts-and-crafts market at the Village Green that operates on qualifying cruise-ship days from September to May and can have up to 35 stalls. A March 2026 Far North District Council report says the Paihia i-SITE had new retail opportunities after a mid-2025 refurbishment, including local souvenir suppliers. Paihia also has hotel conference businesses that advertise event facilities, although none of these sources provides a current town-wide industry share.^2,3,7,9 Named in public sources: Scenic Hotel Bay of Islands², Paihia Pacific Resort³.

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

Training venues in and near Paihia

Most training happens at your own workplace. For a public workshop day or an off-site session, these places hire out rooms.

Paihia War Memorial Hall¹

130 people, largest layout

The council lists a main hall capacity of 130 and a conference room capacity of 80; the page gives no layout-specific seating figures.
- full kitchen
- conference-room kitchenette
- ramps
- heat pumps
- chairs
8 Williams Road, Paihia
Scenic Hotel Bay of Islands conference rooms²

140 people, largest layout

The combined Kingfish and Albacore rooms list 70 classroom, 140 theatre and 50 boardroom capacity. The hotel provides bookable conference facilities; its posted hire pricing is dated and has not been carried into this record.
- air-conditioned conference facilities
- accommodation
- dining
Paihia Pacific Resort conference room³

150 people, largest layout

The venue page states approximately 80 banquet-style or up to 150 theatre-style, and says smaller groups of 30-50 can use the space.
- data projector and screen
- amplifier and speakers
- microphones
- lighting rig
- whiteboards

From the venues’ own public listings. No booking or relationship is implied.

In the local business news

1 Aug 2024
Cruising for another bumper season Far North District Council
Far North District Council forecast 70 Bay of Islands cruise visits and almost 130,000 passengers through May 2025. The seasonal forecast gives context for Paihia's cruise-day market and visitor-facing retail, but it is not a report of final passenger numbers.
1 Mar 2026
Far North District Council January-February 2026 operational reports: Paihia i-SITE retail Far North District Council
The council's March 2026 i-SITE report says the Paihia centre had new retail opportunities after a mid-2025 refurbishment and reports sales for named souvenir suppliers. This is a recent, local example of visitor services connecting a public information centre with local-product retail.

Around Paihia

The pier of Paihia,New Zealand by Prof.Chen Hualin, CC BY-SA 4.0.

About 52 km in a straight line to Whangārei, the nearest large centre. Dots are towns covered on this site.

Far North District and Microsoft Copilot training across Northland, or Whangārei. Distances are straight-line.

A Paihia session could choose approved SharePoint files, assign reviewers and rehearse the steps before sending visitor replies.^5,6,7

Public Microsoft Copilot workshops near Paihia

There is no public Copilot workshop near Paihia on the calendar yet. Register interest below and we will tell you when one is scheduled. Organisations can book private training for their own staff at any time.

Tell me when there is a workshop near Paihia

We will email you when a public workshop is scheduled nearby. No other mailing.