International tourism spending increased by 4 per cent reaching
NZD6.2 billion in the 2009 calendar year, according to data
released today by the Ministry of Tourism.
"The level of spending for 2009 was an excellent result
considering the raft of challenges faced during the year, from the
global financial crisis through to the influenza pandemic
mid-year," said Ray Salter, Ministry of Tourism General
Manager.
"Once again the tourism industry has adapted to the conditions,
and has done a great job in keeping tourism activity and spending
at such high levels."
Australia was the star performer, with spending by our
Australian visitors increasing by 11.6 per cent to NZD1.8
billion.
"At a time when our important long-haul markets were heavily
affected by the recession, it was very pleasing to see our largest
market perform so well. Australia, as our nearest and largest
market, really bucked the trend in a tough year that saw
international arrivals down globally at -4.2 per cent."
Germany performed well, with spend up by 22.5 per cent to NZD293
million for the year. Spend by Chinese visitors was up by 27 per
cent to NZD337 million due to an increase in the number of longer
staying visitors.
Spend by key long-haul markets such as the UK (down 11 per cent
to NZD812 million), US (down 3.2 per cent to NZD597 million), Japan
(down 9.6 per cent to NZD379 million) and South Korea (down 3.3 per
cent to NZD193 million) were the disappointing markets in 2009.
Ray Salter said the Ministry would be revisiting its forecasts
over the next month to incorporate current global conditions. He
stated that all the signs were pointing to continued overall
improvement in conditions for the tourism industry.
For further information on the release of International Visitor
Survey data please visit the Ministry of Tourism research
website.
Please note our market guides will be updated
to reflect the new data over the next few days.
Source: Ministry of Tourism Media Release