New Tourism Forecasts Released At Tourism Conference

The Minister of Tourism Mark Burton has released new forecasts on the expected growth in tourism activity over the next 6 years.

The forecasts are the latest outputs of the Tourism Research Council's research programme, and have been undertaken for the Council by McDermott Fairgray Group.

"This is a very substantial body of work," Mark Burton told the Tourism Conference in Rotorua this morning.

"It includes forecasts of international visitor arrivals, international visitor nights and expenditure, the regional impacts of international tourism, and domestic tourism activity.

"Among the highlights are that international arrivals are forecast to grow by an average of 6.3% per annum to 2.7 million arrivals in 2007. In this period, annual expenditure by international visitors is forecast to increase from $4.7 billion to $8.1 billion.

"These forecasts provide the industry and its related sectors with a very sound basis for planning to meet these robust levels of demand," Mark Burton said.

"The forecasting programme has also been extended to provide analysis of tourism demand and expenditure at the regional level.

This is particularly important, as it will permit a better understanding of tourism at the level where so many of the key decisions are taken - by businesses, by local government and by regional tourism organisations.

"There is no doubt that tourism will continue to grow in importance and will increase its contribution to the New Zealand economy. These forecasts will play a key role in informing decision-making processes," Mark Burton said.

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