Domestic tourism spending outpaces international spending

Tourism Satellite Account: 2012  –  Media Release

Total tourism expenditure increased 2.4 percent ($546 million) to $23.4 billion in the year ended March 2012, according to the Tourism Satellite Account: 2012 published today by Statistics NZ.

Spending by domestic tourists in New Zealand increased 3.0 percent ($397 million) to $13.8 billion in the year ended March 2012. In comparison, international tourism expenditure increased just 1.6 percent ($149 million), following a 1.8 percent increase in the year ended March 2011.

"Growth in overseas visitor arrivals of 4.4 percent, largely driven by the 2011 Rugby World Cup, contributed to this small increase in international expenditure," satellites account manager Peter Gardiner said.

Other key facts for the year ended March 2012 are:

• International tourism expenditure contributed $9.6 billion (15.4 percent) to New Zealand’s total exports of goods and services.
• Tourism generated a direct contribution to GDP of $6.2 billion, or 3.3 percent of GDP.
• The indirect value added of industries supporting tourism generated an additional $9.7 billion for tourism, or 5.2 percent of GDP.
• The tourism industry directly employed 119,800 full-time equivalents (FTEs), or 6.2 percent of total employment in New Zealand.
• Tourists generated $1.3 billion in goods and services tax (GST) revenue.

Key events that influenced tourism activity in the year ended March 2012 included the hosting of the 2011 Rugby World Cup, the impact of the devastating February 2011 earthquake in Christchurch, ash from the Chilean Puyehue-Cordón Caulle volcano disrupting air travel, and the ongoing effects of the global financial crisis. Tourism Satellite Account: 2012 does not separately identify the impact on tourism expenditure at both a domestic and international level for these events.

Tourism Satellite Account: 2012 incorporates the new industry classification, Australian and New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification 2006 (ANZSIC06), which better represents the current economy.

For printed copies, please contact the Statistics NZ Information Centre.