"It's now a neck and neck race between dairy and tourism as to the largest export earner," he told the Bay of Plenty Times during a visit to Tauranga on Wednesday.
"The Bay of Plenty region is a strong tourism attractor and the four sub-regions have all collaborated really well."
Tourism Bay of Plenty figures for the 12 months to October 2016, which exclude Rotorua, reached $924m, made up of domestic tourist spend of $722m and international tourist spend of $202m.
The figures also excluded an additional $39m in cruise ship-related spending.
The ministry and Statistics NZ were developing a comprehensive measure of cruise spending in the latter half of 2017 to enable a full regional spend impact to be incorporated, said Tourism Bay of Plenty head of marketing Kath Low.
Domestically, Auckland was the largest market for the Bay of Plenty.
"We are focusing on increasing engagement with the residents of the Bay who play an enormous role in hosting visitors and acting as domestic ambassadors for the region," Ms Low said.
"We will be rolling out a campaign to the locals shortly."
Australia continued to be a very important international market for the region, followed by the United Kingdom. Tourism officials and operators were also continuing to target North and South America, and India.
Waimarino Adventure Park director Blair Anderson noted the industry's collaborative approach, with Tourism Bay of Plenty and key operators working together.
"We've done a large push into overseas markets with Tourism Bay of Plenty," he said.
A trip focused on the high-spend Indian market paid off in September with a three-day visit by a group of 50 Indian bankers to the Bay.
The spin-off benefits included a range of services providers in the Bay, as well as exposure for Indian wholesale operators to the region's attractions.
"We had the entire group on the water at night doing glow worm kayaking," he said.
Businesses to cash in on overnight cruise ship visits
Overnight cruise ship visits, which began in the Bay last month, have added another element to tourist spending, and the industry is gearing up to take advantage of the extended stays.
Mount Mainstreet's Ingrid Fleming said the first overnighter by the Celebrity Solstice in November was on a Monday night.
Although extra effort was made for the first visit, the ship's return for an overnight stay Saturday, would allow for a bigger push, she said.
Stores remained open to 7pm, there was buskers up and down the street, fire dancers at dusk, a free photo booth, and kids activities including free bubble blowing bottles and helium balloons.
"We want people to have a great experience so they will come back," she said, adding that the event was intended for Tauranga residents as well as visitors.
Tauranga Mayor Greg Brownless said he had dropped by Mount Maunganui on the Celebrity Solstice's first overnight visit.
"It seemed to be a really good mix of tourists and locals," he said.
"A lot of local people went down just to see the ship and enjoy the atmosphere. When tourists come here and like what they see and spend money, that supports our businesses which is great."
Visitor Spend
- Total New Zealand visitor spend for the year to October 2016: $25.68b, up 9.7 per cent.
