Tourism expenditure passes $20 billion

30 June 2008

Tourism expenditure passes $20 billion

Tourism expenditure in New Zealand reached $20.1 billion for the year ended March 2007, according to the Tourism Satellite Account: 2007 published today by Statistics New Zealand.

Total tourism expenditure, consisting of spending by international and domestic (household, business and government) tourists, increased 4.7 percent ($896 million) from the previous March year. Other key results from the Tourism Satellite Account: 2007 include:

• International tourism contributed $8.8 billion (or 18.3 percent) to total New Zealand exports.

• Domestic tourism expenditure was $11.3 billion.

• Tourism generated a direct contribution to gross domestic product (GDP) of $7.9 billion, or 5.1 percent of GDP.

• The indirect value added of industries supporting tourism generated an additional $6.2 billion to tourism.

• The tourism industry directly employed 108,100 full-time equivalent employees (or 5.8 percent of total employment in New Zealand), an increase of 1.9 percent from the previous year.

• Tourists generated $1.5 billion in goods and services tax (GST) revenue. The Tourism Satellite Account: 2007 is available on the Statistics New Zealand website (http://www.stats.govt.nz/) or via the Statistics New Zealand Information Centre. Geoff Bascand

Government Statistician

30 June 2008

ENDS

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