Visitors to Auckland splash out $8.4b
Money spent on tourism in Auckland is on the rise, with expenditure up eight per cent compared to last year.
The latest Monthly Regional Tourism Estimates released by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) show tourism spend for Auckland is estimated to be $8.4 billion for the year to June 2018.
The MRTEs provide an estimate of regional monthly expenditure on tourism from both international and domestic consumers. It gives an estimate of tourist spending patterns within New Zealand.
MBIE manager of sector Trends Mark Gordon said from Auckland’s tourism spend, international visitors spent $4.4b — up eight per cent compared with the same period last year, and domestic tourists spent $4b — up seven per cent.
In June this year, $570 million was spent on tourism in Auckland, which is level compared with June last year.
Of the money spent on tourism in Auckland for the year to June 2018, $3.9b was spent by New Zealanders, $912m by Chinese nationals and $836m by Australians. Broken down by money spent by product, tourists in Auckland spent $2.4b on retail sales (other), $1.5b on food and beverage serving services, and $1.4b on other tourism products.
This was followed by $1.3b on other passenger transport, $736m on accommodation, $485m on retail sales of alcohol, food and beverages, $380m on fuel and other automotive products, and $131m on cultural, recreation, and gambling services.
While Auckland was the region with the highest tourism expenditure, it was followed by Canterbury and Otago with an estimated spend of about $3.8b for the year to June 2018. Waikato is fourth on the list, estimated at about $2.6b.
The region with the biggest year to year growth was Gisborne, which grew 16 per cent and had an estimated $158m spent on tourism.
Nationally, the country has had an estimated $28.770b spent on tourism for the year to June, which is up nine per cent on last year. Monthly expenditure also rose five per cent nationally for the month of June.