78302

Newly released data from the New Zealand Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) has shown that international visitors spent $11.7 billion,a 30% increase on 2022/23, in the year to September 2024.

Holiday visitor expenditure was the largest purpose of visits, representing expenditure of $7.1 billion for the period,

Welcoming the findings, Tourism Industry Aotearoa (TIA) Chief Executive, Rebecca Ingram stated “it is great to see such strong value growth from our holiday visitors - what this tells us is that there are retail stores, cafes, restaurants, accommodation and transport providers that welcomed and benefited from our international manuhiri in the last year.”

Spend is one part of the equation, with the information highlighting that satisfaction levels remain very high, with 90% of visitors highlighting they were satisfied or very satisfied with their New Zealand experience and 95% indicating their holiday met or exceeded their expectations.

Ingram noted “(this) information reinforces the strong value-led contribution of the industry, and it’s really worth celebrating as we head into the summer season when businesses host most of their customers.”

Coming summer an important one
Explaining that tourism businesses and many hospitality and retail businesses are preparing to welcome visitors from across New Zealand and from overseas this summer, Ingram moted “tourism brings economic diversity, resilience, generates jobs and fosters regional prosperity while showcasing our cultural richness and fostering pride of place. We’re looking forward to making a difference this season to the over 300,000 kiwis directly and indirectly employed by tourism.

“We always thought it would take a few years for tourism to regain its momentum, today’s information confirms this. There is opportunity to make an even greater contribution to our economy and the communities we’re part of.

“We believe that, with the right settings, tourism could be worth $55 billion a year by 2030. The Government’s recently announced Tourism Growth Roadmap is a great next step and we’re looking forward to working with them on this.”

China visitor information is back
Notably, travellers from China are now back in suitable numbers for MBIE to provide China specific spend data - spending $1.2 billion in New Zealand over the year to the end of Sepyember 2024.

Australia was the largest market, spending $3.5 billion, up 9.4%, over the year while visitors from the United States spent $1.6 billion, up 23.1%, reinforcing the importance of this market through the current period.

The IVS
The MBIE International Visitor Survey (IVS) for the year ending September 2024 reports on data gathered from travellers as they are leaving New Zealand.

The survey has questions ranging from how much visitors spent, how long and where they stayed, to how they rated their experience, how they got around and why they chose to visit New Zealand.

Image: Rotorua's Wai Ariki Hot Springs and Spa.

Related Articles

28th November 2024 - New Zealand tourism, event and venue industry to share knowledge and hospitality at PCOA24

27th November 2024 - Tourism New Zealand’s Leonie Ashford recognised with BEIA Award

14th November 2024 - New Zealand’s ResBook acquired by Australian Tourism Tech firm ResPax

7th November 2024 - RealNZ acknowledged with top honour at 2024 New Zealand Tourism Awards

7th November 2024 - Southland’s Hump Ridge designated as New Zealand’s 11th great walk

6th November 2024 - Tourism Industry Aotearoa white paper suggests big changes looming for New Zealand tourism industry

31st October 2024 - BEIA anticipate ‘biggest ever’ MEETINGS exhibition for Auckland in 2025

16th October 2024 - ‘2 Easy’ campaign encourages Australians to visit Auckland and Rotorua regions

26th September 2024 - Safety lessons for tourism operators from New Zealand’s White Island tragedy

6th September 2024 - Finalists named for 2024 New Zealand Tourism Awards

4th September 2024 - International tourism to New Zealand rebounds in last financial year

15th August 2024 - Holiday Parks recognised at New Zealand awards ceremony

9th August 2024 - New Zealand Government increases fees for visitor and working holiday visas

10th May 2024 - Tourism Industry Aotearoa launches new programme to advance sustainability initiatives

7th November 2023 - Tourism Industry Aotearoa releases industry strategy to 2050

1st February 2022 - Tourism Industry Aotearoa says its time to plan for reconnecting New Zealand

---

Support our industry news service
We hope that you value the news that we publish so while you're here can we ask for your support?

As an independent publisher, we need reader support for our industry news gathering so ask that - if you don't already do so - you back us by subscribing to the printed Australasian Leisure Management magazine and/or our online news.

Click here to view our subscription options.