Tourism is New Zealand’s single largest export industry, surpassing the dairy industry in earnings. Its growth has been driven by the nation’s strong international profile and increasing air capacity.
In the year ended December 2005, New Zealand welcomed 2.38 million international visitors. Our largest markets – Australia, the UK, the USA and Japan – are all showing growth and overall visitor expenditure is also increasing.
The World Tourism Organisation has forecast the East Asia/Pacific region to be the key growth area from 1995 to 2020, suggesting it could receive 25.4% of world tourist arrivals by 2020, up from 14.4% in 1995. Meanwhile, the Tourism Research Council New Zealand and Ministry of Tourism predict that 3.2 million international visitors will visit New Zealand in 2011. International visitor spend is also forecast to grow at 6.2% per annum to $9.6 billion in 2011.
This indicates that the industry has strong potential for growth, and investments are already being made in a variety of tourist-related activities and services – such as sightseeing and adventure activities, motels, backpackers’ accommodation, restaurants, farm stays, transport businesses, cultural tourism and entertainment, ecotourism and retailing. Between 13,500 and 18,000 businesses operate in the sector, directly employing around 102,700 people. The vast majority are small, owner-operator businesses.
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NZTE offers a suite of business capability products, including access to training, assessment and mentoring, as well as business capability and market development grants.
We will promote and tailor these programmes to suit the sector’s specific needs. We will also work with key stakeholders to identify and promote best practice business models for the industry.
A key part of this programme will involve working closely with Tourism New Zealand and the Tourism Industry Association of New Zealand to ensure NZTE’s products are relevant to, and valued by, the sector and fit with its current programmes.
For more information on these programmes go to the Business Development section.
NZTE’s regional team will ensure that tourism-related regional initiatives provided through our Regional Partnership Programme (RPP) align with the New Zealand Tourism Strategy 2010 and the strategies of key tourism stakeholders.
NZTE’s objective is to ensure that tourism projects arising through the RPP are focused on the development of innovative tourism products and services, making a significant contribution to long-term economic growth, enhancing visitor dispersal and tourism expenditure throughout New Zealand, and increasing New Zealand’s competitiveness as a tourism destination.
For more information on this programme go to the Regional Development section.
NZTE’s sector engagement strategies in the food and beverage, international education, ICT and creative industries cover businesses that sell to the international tourism trade. NZTE recognises that international visitors offer significant opportunities and value to businesses’ growth prospects in these sectors.
The objective is to work closely with other NZTE sectors to develop cross-sector projects, and ensure they contribute significant economic benefit to New Zealand and are aligned with strategies of key stakeholders.
Tourism case studies (published January 2006)
Case studies of world class international food and wine tourism operations, commissioned by the New Zealand Food and Wine Tourism Network in partnership with New Zealand Trade and Enterprise, developed by the University of Otago.
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