Tourism is one of New Zealand's largest export industries,
second only to the dairy industry in terms of foreign exchange
earnings. It employs one in 10 New Zealanders and has the potential
to improve the economies of communities around the country.
The facts
In the year ended March 2009, international visitors spent
NZD9.3 billion in New Zealand. Combined with domestic travel
expenditure, this makes the tourism industry worth NZD21.7 billion
a year to New Zealand's economy.
The New Zealand tourism industry is made up of a handful of
major publicly-listed companies and between 13,500 and 18,000 small
to medium sized enterprises. Tourism supports 94,600 direct and
90,200 indirect full-time equivalent jobs, or 9.6 per cent of the
total workforce in New Zealand.
New Zealand received almost 2.5 million visitors in the year
ending April 2010. New Zealand's international visitor arrivals
have doubled since 1992, and they are expected to continue to climb
at a rate of about 2.5 per cent each year between 2009 and
2015.
On average, each international holiday visitor spends NZD2,633
on their New Zealand visit (at end December 2009 and excluding
international airfares).
International tourism expenditure (excluding airfares) is
forecast to grow by an average of 4.7 per cent per annum to reach
NZD8.2 billion in 2015. This represents an increase in spending of
NZD2.25 billion by 2015.
While Tourism New Zealand's focus is on international tourism
arrivals, travel by New Zealanders contributes significant income
to the sector, accounting for NZD12.4 billion in 2009.
Key markets for New Zealand
In YE April 2010, New Zealand's primary sources for visitor
arrivals are Australia (44.7%), the UK (10.1%), US (7.8%), China
(4.0%), Japan (3.2%), Germany (2.7%), South Korea (2.3%) and Canada
(2.0%). Significant secondary markets are India, Singapore,
The Netherlands, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Malaysia and Thailand.
Smaller markets with potential during the Rugby World Cup in
2011 include South Africa, France, Italy and Argentina.
Visitors from our international visitor markets each have their own
characteristics and expectations of a New Zealand holiday
experience including length of stay and style of travel, preferred
modes of transport and accommodation types, and their likelihood of
travelling beyond the main centres.
The tourism industry world wide
In the global context, New Zealand is a very small player, with
just 0.3 per cent of international arrivals in 2009 and about 0.7
per cent of international tourism expenditure.
In 2009, international tourist arrivals reached 880 million,
down 39 million over 2008 as a result of the global financial
crisis. Globally, tourists spend more than USD2.3 billion a day,
equating to USD852 billion in 2009.
Want to know more?
Visit the Ministry of Tourism's website - www.tourism.govt.nz - to view Tourism Industry Key Statistics.
Access data from New Zealand's official tourism research
programme, including visitor arrivals data and forecasts, at www.tourismresearch.govt.nz.
Find out more about our international markets, including latest
statistics and data, in the Markets and Stats section of this
website.
Find out more about the global tourism industry at www.unwto.org.