1st March 2024 T&H Minister / TIA / TSA
The tourism and hospitality minister says the industry’s resilience “is owed to the determination and grit of tourism businesses”.
The number of workers in the tourism sector increased by 48% after New Zealand re-opened its borders to international visitors.
The trans-Tasman bubble in 2021 helped lift tourism of its pandemic lows in 2020.
Stats NZ’s latest Tourism satellite account shows the devastating effect the pandemic has had on tourism, says Tourism Industry Aotearoa.
However, domestic tourism expenditure increased over that year to $24.6bn.
The latest TSA highlights the sector’s ability to generate income and provide employment.
Tourists spend in New Zealand continues to climb, topping $40bn in the year to March 2019, although the pace of growth has halved from a year earlier.
Strong domestic demand and growth in international visitor numbers are behind the increase, says Stats NZ.
An economist with detailed knowledge of MBIE’s tourism data collection has come out criticising it as “next to useless” after this week’s Tourism Satellite Account (TSA) showed a fall in international tourism spend.
The estimated value of cruise spend in New Zealand during the 2016-17 season was slashed by $318m in yesterday’s Tourism Satellite Account, prompting questions over the accuracy of previous industry assessments.