Big spending tourists staying away

The latest figures show a 2.7 per cent drop in the number of visitors to New Zealand last month.

While tourism officials say they were expecting a fall off in the latter half of the year, it appears big spenders from the wealthiest countries are staying away in droves.

A Japanese tourist spends an average of $169 a day when visiting New Zealand, but there are 16.2 per cent fewer people from Japan arriving compared with a year ago. There has also been a six per cent decrease in the number of American tourists, who spend an average of $174 a day.

New Zealand's only major growth area is in Australian visitors, but they are smaller spenders, averaging $144 per day.

- NEWSTALK ZB