Industry buoyant as tourists pass 2 million

By SIMON HENDERY tourism writer

New Zealand tourism is celebrating a new milestone - 2 million visitors arrived in the country during the past year, twice the number travelling here a decade ago.

Statistics New Zealand said yesterday that there were 2.02 million visitor arrivals in the 12 months to the end of November, a 5.5 per cent increase on the previous year.

Tourism New Zealand chief executive George Hickton said the milestone was a "phenomenal achievement".

But Hickton repeated a regular warning that the industry, which accounts for 10 per cent of GDP, had to do more than just attract visitors.

"We want to make sure New Zealand always benefits from tourism and that we do not harm what attracted visitors here in the first place - our stunning environment."

Visitor numbers reached 1 million in 1992 and 1.5 million in November 1996.

Although the United States terror attacks knocked arrivals back in the latter part of last year, the only year-on-year dip in the past decade came in 1998 after the 1997 Asian economic crisis.

Visitors are expected to number 2.68 million in 2008, but Hickton said Tourism New Zealand's focus was on increasing earnings rather than the number of tourists.

"That means carefully targeting the visitors who spend the most money, stay longer and visit more parts of New Zealand."

That message was repeated by Tourism Minister Mark Burton, who said: "New Zealand's long-term interests are best served if our visitors travel at different times of the year, stay longer, increase their spending, and visit not only the traditional spots, but venture out into all regions."

By September this year, visitor spending had risen from an estimated $2 billion in 1992 to an estimated $5.8 billion.

Arrivals last month were up 21 per cent on November last year, when international travel dried up after the September 11 terror attacks.

Last month's arrivals from Japan, one of the markets most severely hit by September 11, rebounded back to November 2000 levels after almost halving last November.

However, year-on-year, Japanese visitor numbers are up 10 per cent.

A survey for the year to September found that of all visitors arriving in the country, 58 per cent were here on holiday, 18 per cent were visiting friends and family, and 15 per cent were on business.

Other reasons included study, sport events and medical treatment.