Chinese visitors drive growth in tourist spending – Media release

25 October 2013

Visitors from China increased 31.2 percent (49,972) in the past year, contributing to a half-billion dollar increase in tourist spending, Statistics New Zealand said today.

Total tourism expenditure increased 2.3 percent ($541 million) to $23.9 billion in the year ended March 2013, according to Tourism Satellite Account: 2013.

Spending by international tourists in New Zealand increased 2.2 percent ($213 million) in the year ended March 2013, following a 1.4 percent increase in the previous year. There was a small overall decrease of 0.3 percent in the number of international visitors.

“Despite this decrease, there’s been strong growth in Chinese visitors, contributing to an increase in international expenditure. This reflects both the increasing value of the Chinese market and the ongoing change in the composition of our traditional visitor markets,” satellites account manager Peter Gardiner said.

Key results for the year ended March 2013 are:
• International tourism expenditure contributed $9.8 billion (16.1 percent) to New Zealand’s total exports.
• Domestic tourism expenditure increased 2.4 percent ($328 million) to $14.2 billion.
• Tourism generated a direct contribution to GDP of $7.3 billion, or 3.7 percent of GDP.
• The indirect value added of industries supporting tourism generated an additional $9.8 billion for tourism, or 5.0 percent of GDP.
• The tourism industry directly employed 110,800 full-time equivalents (FTEs), or 5.7 percent of total employment in New Zealand.
• Tourists generated $1.3 billion in GST revenue.
• Chinese visitor arrivals were 210,240, up from 160,268 in the March 2012 year. This is the first time they’ve exceeded 200,000.

Key events that influenced tourism activity included the world premiere of the Hobbit trilogy, the introduction and discontinuation of some airline services from China and the United States, strong growth in the cruise liner market, and the ongoing effects of the global financial crisis. However, Tourism Satellite Account: 2013 does not separately identify the impact on tourism expenditure at either a domestic or international level for these.

Read Tourism Satellite Account: 2013 online, or order a hard copy from our Information Centre, email info@stats.govt.nz.

Visit Tourism Satellite Account: 2013

ENDS

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