International visitors spend $10.3b in June year
Expenditure growth was led by Asian visitors.
International visitors brought over $10 billion into New Zealand over the last year, Tourism New Zealand says.
In the year ended June 30, the financial contribution from international visitors was $10.3 billion, up 18% from 2015, with the median foreigner spending $2000 here, figures from the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment's international visitor survey show. Tourists brought in $6.3 billion, people visiting friends and relatives spent $2.1 billion, and people travelling for business $882 million.
Expenditure growth was led by Asian visitors, with spending up 36.8% to a total $3.4 billion in the year. Visitors from South Korea spent $293 million, up 92% on 2015, and Chinese visitors spending rose 33% to $1.8 billion, making them the second highest spenders after Australians.
The most valuable individual visitors were Germans, who spent a median $4,900 each, followed by visitors from the rest of Europe excluding the UK. Visitors from the US, China and Canada spent a median $3,300 each. Expenditure was calculated excluding travellers younger than 15 and excluding airfares.
In the year to June 2016, overseas short-term visitor arrivals reached 3.31 million, up 11% on the year earlier, according to Statistics NZ.
On an annual basis, Australians made up 537,152 of the 1.7 million holidaymakers in that year, while China was the second-biggest pool at 307,504. Business visitors were down 2.5% in June from a year earlier to 22,704, but up 4% on an annual basis to 281,312, nearly two-thirds of whom came from across the Tasman.
(BusinessDesk)
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Sophie Boot
Mon, 22 Aug 2016
Mon, 22 Aug 2016
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International visitors spend $10.3b in June year
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