International tourism expenditure falls

Embargoed until 10:45am – 28 October 2009
International tourism expenditure falls

Spending by international tourists in New Zealand decreased 0.9 percent ($87 million) in the year ended March 2009, Statistics New Zealand said today. The fall in international tourism expenditure, published today in the Tourism Satellite Account: 2009, is the first since the Tourism Satellite Account began in 1999.

Overall, total tourism expenditure, consisting of spending by domestic and international tourists, increased 1.1 percent ($226 million) to $21.7 billion in the year ended March 2009.

Other key results for the year ended March 2009: • Domestic tourism expenditure was $12.4 billion, an increase of 2.6 percent from the previous year.

* International tourism contributed $9.3 billion (16.4 percent) to New Zealand’s total exports of goods and services.

* Direct tourism value added decreased 4.4 percent ($296 million) to $6.4 billion, or 3.8 percent of gross domestic product (GDP). The contribution to GDP in the previous year was 4.1 percent.

* The indirect value added of industries supporting tourism generated an additional $8.7 billion to tourism.

* The tourism industry directly employed 94,600 full-time equivalent employees (4.9 percent of total employment in New Zealand), an increase of 0.4 percent from the previous year.

* Tourists generated $1.6 billion in goods and services tax (GST) revenue.

Tourism Satellite Account: 2009 is the first in this series of publications to implement a new international standard introduced by the United Nations World Tourism Organization relating to the derivation of tourism value added. Further details regarding this new standard and the impact on tourism employment and gross operating surplus measures are explained in the publication, which is available on the Statistics New Zealand website (www.stats.govt.nz) or via the Statistics New Zealand Information Centre.

ENDS

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