Tourism impact

Tourism sector's contribution to New Zealand

Before COVID-19, tourism was New Zealand's largest export industry and delivered $40.9 billion to the country. Tourism made a significant positive impact on regional economies supporting employment by directly employing 8.4 percent (229,566 people) of the New Zealand workforce.

For the year ended March 2023:

• Tourism was New Zealand second largest export earner
• Total tourism expenditure was 37.7 billion, an increase of 39.6 percent ($10.7 billion) from the previous year
• International tourism expenditure increased 456.9 percent ($8.9 billion) to $10.8 billion and contributed 11.4% to New Zealand’s total exports of goods and services
• GST generated from international tourists totalled $1 billion, an increase of $858 million
• Overseas visitor arrivals to New Zealand increased 858.7 percent to 2,199,073
• Tourism generated a direct contribution to GDP of $13.3 billion, or 3.7 percent of GDP, an increase of 30.9 percent ($3.1 billion)
• The indirect value added of industries supporting tourism generated an additional $8.8 billion, or 2.5 percent of GDP
• 189,432 people were directly employed in tourism, 6.7 percent of the total number of people employed in New Zealand.
• In total, 317,514 people were directly or indirectly employed in tourism, or one in 9 New Zealanders.