International visitors spend $6.14 billion

Last updated: April 2008

Media Statement

27 July 2005

International visitors to New Zealand spent $6.14 billion in the year to March 2005.

Growth in holiday-related expenditure has been set against a continued decline in education visitor spend, resulting in a 2.7% fall in total visitor expenditure compared to the same period the previous year.

“The main driver for the lower level of total expenditure was a 30% decline in spending by the international education market. The Korea, China and Japan markets led the slowdown in this education spend,” Ministry of Tourism Research Manager Bruce Bassett said today.

“Despite the drop in overall spending, holiday expenditure increased by 9% to $3.2 billion - an extra $275 million compared to the same period last year. The main holiday market growth has been from Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States.”

Australian growth has been driven by a combination of increased capacity and lower priced airfares on trans-Tasman routes. Since these changes came into effect in late 2003, Australian visitor spending in New Zealand has increased by $244 million, or 19%.

New Zealand’s top ten markets generated 76% of the total visitor spend. The key market are Australia ($1.4 billion), the United Kingdom ($933 million), the United States ($615 million), Japan ($572 million), China ($404 million) and Korea ($254 million).

These results are from the International Visitor Survey (IVS) for the year ended March 2005 released today by the Ministry of Tourism.

For further information please visit the Ministry of Tourism research website - www.tourismresearch.govt.nz.

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