19 April 2005

New Zealand Tourism Flows Model Under Development

A project to provide better information on tourist movements within New Zealand is under way, Tourism Minister Mark Burton announced today

The Ministry of Tourism's New Zealand Tourism Flows Model, will map where and how international and domestic tourists move throughout New Zealand.

“This is critical information for the tourism sector as it will provide detailed understanding of the current characteristics of tourism in New Zealand’s regions and importantly, it will link this analysis with tourism visitor forecasts to provide insights into how tourism will develop on the ground”, Mark Burton said.

The project is innovative on a number of fronts, including using all of the key tourism sector data and presenting it visually through maps on a Geographic Information System (GIS) platform. It draws on a range of information that includes Department of Conservation visitor data and Transit New Zealand road counts.

Initially, the Model will be used by local and central government planners when considering sector infrastructure investments. There will be a wide range of uses for the Model including by private sector businesses to assess their investment decisions in the tourism industry.

The Model will illustrate tourism trends and allow agencies to identify capacity constraints before they occur, to enable proactive action.

“Tourism is a key economic driver for New Zealand and managing the growth in a sustainable way is vital to its success. The New Zealand Tourism Flows Model will be an important tool to provide more detailed and higher quality information on New Zealand’s tourism industry, particularly in our regions.

"An understanding of tourism pressure points is crucial to sustainable tourism development. The New Zealand Tourism Flows Model will enable us to identify infrastructure requirements around the whole country and will provide valuable insight into the dynamics of tourism in New Zealand, now and in the future.” Mark Burton said.

The Ministry of Tourism has contracted COVEC, ACNielsen and Eagle Technology to develop the New Zealand Tourism Flows Model. This work will be completed in December of this year.

The project has been funded by the Cross Departmental Research Pool administered by the Ministry of Research, Science and Technology.

ENDS

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