NEWS RELEASE
30 May 2018
Wellington’s scorching summer tourist boom
Wellington’s scorching 2018 summer was also been a boon for Wellington City Council’s business operations as they
exceeded performance expectations.
Eco-sanctuary Zealandia continues to be increasingly popular with tourists and in the January-March quarter more than
42,000 people visited, up 14 percent on the same time last year. Fifty-seven percent of visitors were from outside
Wellington.
Visitation through Experience Wellington’s suite of attractions was up on budget by 38,068 and the Zoo performed
strongly with visitation ahead of plan.
Numbers were also up by more than 35,000 for the Cable Car on the same period last year – the city’s second most popular
attraction after Te Papa.
The figures were part of a review of the quarter presented to the Council Controlled Organisations Subcommittee on today
(Wednesday).
Wellington experienced a great tourist season and visitor spend exceeded $2.5 billion in the year to February for the
first time.
“One pillar of our economic strategy is tourist attraction and when Wellington has a tourist boom, the Council’s
businesses can be part of that boom,” says Councillor Simon Marsh, who holds the Economic Development portfolio.
“The Council’s businesses are doing well and when they are attracting tourists those tourists are also spending with
local businesses,” he says.
Wellington Mayor Justin Lester says the Wellington Regional Economic Development Agency (WREDA) has played a large role
in this success.
“Their marketing of the city attracts acts, conferences, businesses and tourists to Wellington and this means jobs for
Wellingtonians.
“That helps bring that buzz to the capital which makes it such a great place to visit.”
JANUARY-MARCH QUARTER - FIGURES:
ZEALANDIA
• 42,151 visitors, up 14 per cent on same quarter in 2017
• 8174 people took a guided tour, up 38 percent
CABLE CAR
• 391,285 passengers, up 35,701 on the same quarter in 2017
WELLINGTON ZOO
• 68,861 visitors, 13,664 more than the same time last year