Tourism spending flat despite a surge of low-spending Aussies

BUSINESSDESK: Annual tourist spending in New Zealand was little changed as a rising number of low-spending Australians wasn’t enough to make up for a decline in Korean and Japanese arrivals.

Some 2.62 million international visitors spent $5.64 billion in the 12 months ended March 31, compared to 2.51m arrivals spending $5.63 billion a year earlier, according to Ministry of Economic Development figures.

That excludes international airfares.

More Australian visitors taking advantage of a strong currency didn't result in a similar pick-up in spending, with the average spend among the 1.17m tourists down 6% at $1500 a head.

Declining numbers of big-spending tourists from Japan and Korea stripped out $182m of total spending in the year, though that was offset by an extra $390m from the Rugby World Cup in the latter half of the year.

"Today's figures continue to significant decline in real tourist expenditure of the past seven years," Tourism Ministry research and evaluation manager Peter Ellis said.

"This is mostly because of the increasing proportion of visitors who are relatively low-spending Australian residents."

The latest pick-up in total spending arrests three annual declines, though it is still at a subdued level and near a decade-low.

Tourism has struggled since the global financial crisis in 2008 eroded disposable incomes for big-ticket holidays and the rising price of oil and strengthening New Zealand dollar dimmed the appeal of long-haul travel.

The government is hoping to attract an extra 200,000 visitor nights from a proposed Auckland convention centre.

The deal has sparked staunch opposition, as it would see casino operator SkyCity Entertainment Group foot the $350m tab to build and operate the venue in exchange for an extension to its gaming licence, which would let it underwrite the expense with more pokie machines.

Some 300,000 business travellers spent $598m in the year ended March 31, compared to the same number spending $616m a year earlier.

About 1.22m visited New Zealand for a holiday, the same number as a year earlier, and spent $2.95 billion, compared to $2.97 billion.