Tourism Strategy Group Research Programme

Last Updated on: 4 October 2011

New Zealand's Tourism Strategy Group, within the Ministry of Economic Development, is responsible for making quality information, research and forecasts available to the tourism industry to support its policy, marketing and commercial decision making. The Tourism Strategy Group's Research Website is the home of New Zealand's official tourism research data set.

The Tourism Strategy Group manages New Zealand tourism's core data set which is made up of the International Visitor Survey, Domestic Travel Survey, International Visitor Arrivals, Commercial Accommodation Monitor, Tourism Satellite Account and Tourism Forecasts.

The Strategy Group's research team also develops and manages data collections in partnership with industry and carries out analysis of data covering a wide range of topics. A variety of research reports are avaialbe on the tourism research website - www.tourismresearch.govt.nz - in addition to the core data sets listed below.

The International Visitor Survey (IVS)

Published quarterly, the International Visitor Survey (IVS) is carried out by the Tourism Strategy Group. Research is based on interviews conducted with international visitors as they depart from Auckland, Wellington or Christchurch airports. Around 5,200 interviews are completed each year, according to specified quotas for certain nationalities and visitor demographics.

The interview questions cover all aspects of visitors' time in New Zealand from arrival to departure, including their demographics, accommodation types used, regions visited and an estimate of expenditure. Samples are weighted to align with visitor arrivals figures and to ensure results are not skewed due to known discrepancies.

Access IVS data here

International Visitor Arrivals (IVA)

Published monthly, the International Visitor Arrivals (IVA) survey measures international visitor arrivals into New Zealand by month and by year. The survey is sourced from monthly 'International Travel and Migration' statistics published by Statistics New Zealand (www.stats.govt.nz) and collected by the New Zealand Customs Service.

Access IVA data here

Commercial Accommodation Monitor (CAM)

Released monthly, this is a monitor of New Zealand's commercial accommodation with data collected including the number of establishments, capacity, nights spent, occupancy rates and origin of visitors.

Access CAM data here

Domestic Travel Survey (DTS)

The Domestic Travel Survey (DTS) provides information on New Zealanders travelling within New Zealand. Data covers day trips, overnight trips, nights away, places stayed, main reason of trips, transport used, activities undertaken and expenditure.

Access DTS data here

Regional Visitor Monitor (RVM)

The Regional Visitor Monitor (RVM) monitors the motivations, expectations and satisfaction levels of visitors to New Zealand's key destination regions: Auckland, Rotorua, Wellington, Christchurch, Queenstown and Dunedin.  While data collected is confidential to the regions, a benchmark report is publically available online.

Access RVM benchmark reports here

Tourism Satellite Account (TSA)

The tourism satellite account (TSA) measures the contribution of tourism to the New Zealand economy. Results include tourism's share of exports and gross domestic product (GDP), employment and GST revenue.

Access the TSA here

Forecasts 2010-2016

Prepared annually since 1999, the Tourism Strategy Group's long-range tourism forecasts provide in-depth estimates on future tourism activity within New Zealand. Using statistical modelling and with wide industry input, the forecasts cover a seven-year projection period. Forecasted information includes international visitor arrivals, regional spread, visitor expenditure and analysis by major inbound markets.

Access the 2010-2016 forecasts here

The Tourism Industry Monitor (TIM)

The Tourism Industry Monitor (TIM) is an industry initiative led by the Tourism Strategy Group, the Tourism Industry Association, Tourism New Zealand and the New Zealand Hotel Council. It surveys a range of tourism organisations and businesses in order to provide a regular, up-to-date report on the performance of the tourism sector, including the outlook for the next three months.

Access the latest TIM report here

Research projects, reports, market summaries and sector profiles

The New Zealand Tourism Research website is a good source of other tourism research and analysis covering all aspects of the industry. A range of ad hoc research reports are available on this website as well as profiles covering  tourism sectors and international markets, which bring together data from the various tourism research data sets.

Access Tourism Sector Profiles here

See www.tourismresearch.govt.nz for more information