June 2004 IVS Data release
Last updated:
April 2008
Media Statement
13 October 2004
Results from the International Visitor Survey (IVS) for the year ended June 2004 have been released today by the Ministry of Tourism.
International visitors to New Zealand spent $6.5 billion in the year to June 2004, up 4.2% from the previous year. This is a new record high and reflects the increasing contribution of international tourism to New Zealand. Overall, the data suggests that New Zealand visitor spending is recovering following a period affected by an appreciating New Zealand currency and the effect of SARS on key Asian markets.
The growth in visitor spending has been led by the Australian market, with Australian visitor spending increasing by 19.6% to $1.3 billion. The driver of this performance was the large increase in visitor arrivals from Australia that resulted from increased capacity and lower prices on trans – Tasman routes.
New Zealand’s second largest market was the United Kingdom. The total spend by UK visitors while in New Zealand was $940 million, up 5.2% from the previous June year.
Japan was the third largest market at $658 million, up 3.2%. The Japanese market, along with other Asian markets, has rebounded strongly in the June quarter following a period throughout 2003 where expenditure had been affected by the impact of SARS. Korean visitor spend has been volatile over recent periods, as seen by the strong spend of $616 million in the year to June, up 61%.
Visitors from the USA spent $574 million in New Zealand in the year to June 2004, down 21%. This fall in expenditure correlates with a high exchange rate environment over the survey period. The US market has recorded strong June quarter spending, which indicates a recovery in expenditure may be occurring despite little change in the currency environment.
Longer term trends show that international tourism to New Zealand has grown strongly over the period 1998 – 2004. Annual visitor spend over this period has increased by $3.4 billion, an average of an additional $567 million each year.
Forecasts released in August show that this strong growth in visitor spend is expected to continue out to 2010, with total expenditure in 2010 expected to reach $11.3 billion. This forecast shows that tourism, which currently provides 172,000 of New Zealand’s jobs, is expected to continue the strong growth of recent years and the IVS results reinforce that the industry is on track to meet forecast expectations.
The IVS, along with other tourism survey data is freely available on the Tourism Research Council New Zealand website. Data available from the IVS includes reports on the top ten visitor markets and a large amount of data showing key survey variables over time since 1997.
The IVS is a sample survey of 5000 departing international travellers that is conducted at Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch airports.
For further information please visit the Tourism Research Council New Zealand website (www.trcnz.govt.nz) or contact the Ministry of Tourism on 04 498 7440.
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