Christchurch's economic development agency wants to boost the level of its tourism spend as more visitors come back to the Canterbury region.

Tourism spend in the Canterbury region is closing in on pre-earthquake numbers.

Latest figures from MBIE show $3.8 eight billion was spent by local and international visitors to April this year, up 12 per cent from the year prior.

Two thirds of the spend in Canterbury was in Christchurch while Kaikoura saw a 35 per cent increase year on year for April.

While they are happy with the figures, ChristchurchNZ's destination manager Caroline Blanchfield said the region is still playing catch up.

"We are back to where we were pre-earthquake levels, but our market share compared to the rest of New Zealand, the whole of tourism has been booming and we have been behind."

Blanchfield said Christchurch Airport deserves credit for making the city more accessible.

"Those direct flights has really made a difference to our tourism offering and it's keeping people in our region longer and spending more money."