Government investment paying dividends in tourism

The Government’s major investments in Tourism New Zealand and the screen industry are paying big dividends according to Associate Tourism Minister Todd McClay.

Results of NZIER research, released today by Tourism New Zealand, show that tourism marketing efforts are having a major impact on the number of visitor arrivals in New Zealand.

Arrivals were up by 7.3 per cent to 2.77 million to February 2014, the highest one-year growth rate in a decade.

“The NZIER report shows that the growth in arrivals has far exceeded what naturally would have occurred if the only factors influencing consumers were those prevalent in their own countries, such as a strengthening economy,” says Mr McClay.

“Within five of our major tourism markets promotion of New Zealand was found to have had a considerable impact on the choice of people to visit.”

“This Government’s support of a far more proactive tourism strategy is really paying dividends.”

“The additional $158 million over four years has allowed Tourism New Zealand to embark on a comprehensive marketing strategy in both our established and emerging markets.”

By far the strongest single contributor to the growth in visitor numbers was the promotion of The Hobbit and New Zealand as Middle Earth.

During the height of Lord of the Rings mania six per cent of visitors were citing those films as a major factor in their decision to come here. In 2013, 12 per cent of arrivals cited The Hobbit or Middle Earth as one of the reasons they chose to visit New Zealand.

The most recent International Visitor Survey showed 14 per cent of holiday arrivals were directly influenced by The Hobbit further illustrating the value of the Government’s investments in Tourism New Zealand and the screen industry.

“I commend Tourism New Zealand on their good work and look forward to tourism operators up and down New Zealand benefitting from this investment for many years to come.”

“Overall, it is a very exciting time for the tourism industry with this week also seeing the launch of Tourism 2025, which aims to lift the contribution of tourism to New Zealand’s economy from $24 billion to $41 billion by 2025,” says Mr McClay.

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