New Zealand Tourism Overtakes Dairy as Largest Export Industry

Tourism has overtaken the dairy industry as New Zealand’s biggest export industry as foreign visitor spending recovered and a drought curbed milk production, a government report showed.

Spending by foreign tourists rose 1.6 percent to NZ$9.54 billion ($7.1 billion) in the year ended March 31, Statistics New Zealand said in a report released in Wellington today. Exports of butter, cheese and milk powder fell 10 percent to NZ$8.97 billion, the agency said