Record Expenditure from International Tourism - YE December 2003
Last updated:
April 2008
Media Statement
28 April 2004
The International Visitor Survey for the year ended December 2003 was released by the Ministry of Tourism today.
International visitors to New Zealand spent a record $6.4 billion in 2003, up 3.9% from the previous year. This performance continues a long period of growth in tourism earning where spending has increased at a faster rate than visitor arrivals.
The 2003 performance represents an excellent result given the difficult operating conditions that occurred during the course of the year – SARS, terrorism, the Iraq war and an appreciating New Zealand currency.
The key performing markets for New Zealand in 2003 were Australia (up 25.8% to $1.17 billion), South Korea (up 133.7% to $619 million) and Germany (up 19% to 229 million). Markets showing declines were the United States (down 18% to $628.2 million) and Japan (down 12% to $620 million). New Zealand’s second largest market, the United Kingdom, increased by 1% to $926.9 million.
These market spending movements reflect a number of influences. For instance, the very strong Australian performance, now exceeding $1 billion in value, reflects strong arrivals growth in this market driven by a competitive trans-Tasman aviation market and a small increase in spending per visit.
The US market softness correlates closely to exchange rate movements with spending in US dollar terms being constant. The large increase in the South Korea market is likely to reflect both the impact of SARS and the survey methodology change.
The 2003 IVS is the first full year of data released under the new ‘flight based’ sampling methodology introduced at the start of 2003. This methodology change has produced some figures that may not be comparable with the preceding series. While the expenditure data is consistent, ‘length of stay’ and ‘purpose of visit’ variables do appear to have changed to some degree.
The Tourism Research Council New Zealand Chair, Lex Henry, commented that "the results reflect well on the tourism industry which has been proactive in addressing the significant disturbances to the global travel market".
"While there was a large decline in Asian arrivals during the middle of last year due to SARS, total visitor expenditure has continued to grow, and at a rate faster than arrivals. It is also a milestone to have Australia break the one billion dollar mark for the first time, clearing showing the importance of the Australia to our tourism industry".
"While 2003 was a tough year for tourism, our results were still positive with all signs pointing towards an improvement for 2004. However, many other markets are now responding to opportunities, for example Australia with its own tourism strategy. New Zealand must continue to improve its position and exceed the results achieved by these other markets. Such success will only occur if the private and public sectors continue to cooperate."
With the release of the 2003 IVS data, the publication of the IVS will now return to a quarterly release of 12 months of data. The release of data for the year ended March 2004 is scheduled for June 2004.
For further information please visit the Ministry of Tourism research website www.tourismresearch.govt.nz.
Contact:
Bruce Bassett
Research Manager
Ministry of Tourism
Phone 04 498 7448
E-mail bruce.bassett@tourism.govt.nz
Web www.tourismresearch.govt.nz or www.tourism.govt.nz
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