Tourism Yet to Regain New Zealand’s Top Overseas Earner Crown
- Foreign visitor spend has lagged dairy exports since pandemic
- Government seeks to boost arrivals to aid economic recovery
Today’s Tourism Satellite Account report shows overseas visitor arrivals rose 44% to nearly 3.2 million in the 12 months to March 2024.
Photographer: Birgit Krippner/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
New Zealand’s tourist industry needs to recover further if it is to regain its crown as the nation’s biggest earner of overseas revenue.
While foreign visitor spending surged 60% to NZ$16.9 billion ($9.7 billion) in the 12 months through March 2024, it still lags behind the dairy industry’s NZ$21.1 billion of exports in the same period, according to government data released Wednesday in Wellington.