Domestic Travel Expenditure Lower in 2004
Last updated:
April 2008
Media Release
Thursday 10 November 2005
Download PDF version of the Media Release (33KB)
Travel expenditure by domestic visitors was $7.21 billion in 2004, down 9.4% on 2003,as shown by the Domestic Travel Survey (DTS) released today by the Ministry of Tourism.
“This drop in domestic spend confirms the anecdotal feedback from the tourism industry that domestic tourism has slowed down,” says Bruce Bassett, Research Manager, Ministry of Tourism.
“With increased international air capacity and competitive pricing, domestic travellers appear to be opting for overseas travel at the expense of domestic travel. In 2004, an additional 359,000 overseas trips were taken by New Zealanders, 26% more than in 2003” he said.
New Zealand travellers spent an additional 6.1 million nights offshore in 2004, while the DTS shows a decline in New Zealand-based nights of 2.3 million.
Data from the Commercial Accommodation Monitor over the same period shows that guest nights in commercial facilities by domestic travellers were stable. This indicates that the decline in nights has primarily occurred within the 60% of nights spent by domestic travellers in private accommodation each year.
A range of data and reports from the DTS are available for analysis within the Ministry of Tourism research website – www.tourismresearch.govt.nz.
Expenditure by overnight travellers fell by 9.7% to $4.46 billion in 2004, while spending on day trips dropped by 9.0% to $2.75 billion. Domestic travel expenditure had grown into 2003, but has subsequently declined which coincides with the strong growth of New Zealand outbound travel.
The Domestic Travel Survey is an annual telephone survey of 15,000 New Zealand residents. The Ministry has been reviewing the survey over the recent period and, with this work complete, regular quarter release of DTS data will commence in January.
Ministry of Tourism:
www.tourism.govt.nz
www.tourismresearch.govt.nz
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