Domestic tourism softens in year to September 2008

864480 Media Statement

Domestic tourism softens in year to September 2008

Thursday 5 February 2009 – For immediate release

Data released by the Ministry of Tourism shows that New Zealand travellers spent $7.6 billion on travel within New Zealand in the year to September 2008, down 4.6% on the previous year.

“Uncertain economic conditions and high fuel costs during this period have shown through in the softening of domestic travel,” said Bruce Bassett, Ministry of Tourism Research Manager. In the year to September 2008, overnight trips declined by 7.0% while the number of day trips fell by 11.5%.

Mr Bassett said that ebbs and flows in the industry were a natural response to the changing factors that New Zealanders considered when planning their travel. For instance, over this period outbound trips by New Zealand residents were up by 2% as exchange rates favoured off-shore rather than domestic travel.

Mr Bassett added that while the overall direction of the results wasn’t favourable, the domestic tourism industry remained a substantial and powerful economic driver for New Zealand. The Domestic Travel Survey is a telephone survey of 15,000 New Zealand residents undertaken throughout the year.

Data and reports from the survey are available on the Ministry of Tourism’s research website – www.tourismresearch.govt.nz/dts .

ENDS

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