Plenty of opportunities for tourism operators

Plenty of opportunities for tourism operators

14 August 2006

The Tourism Industry Association represents 2000 businesses and organisations within the tourism industry.

Members include airlines, airport companies, and regional tourism organisations, rental car, coach and taxi companies, inbound tour operators, accommodation providers, tourism attractions, researchers, training organisations and tourism services providers.

Tourism is New Zealand’s largest export earner – accounting for 18.5% of this country’s export earnings.

The Tourism Industry Association organises the New Zealand Tourism Industry Conference, TRENZ and the New Zealand Tourism Industry Awards.

Go to www.tianz.org.nz Tourism yield research released today shows there are profits to be made in the tourism sector, Tourism Industry Association New Zealand (TIA) Chief Executive Fiona Luhrs says.

The research showed financial yields from many tourism businesses were above the New Zealand average performance for all industries though yields were relatively modest overall.

“The research shows that the primary motivation of many tourism business operators is to build successful businesses, challenging commonly held beliefs that most are more interested in achieving a good lifestyle,” Ms Luhrs said.

Many operators had been feeling the effects of slowing visitor growth in the last few months and this was the ideal time for them to look closely at their business practices and productivity, in order to see where they could improve, and maximise the yield from each visitor, she said. That would leave them well positioned to take full advantage of the forecast improvement in visitor growth from late next year.

“Visitor forecasts show we can expect three million visitors a year by 2010. Attracting investment to the tourism industry is essential for it to keep growing,” she said. “To sell a tourism business as a going concern, or to raise capital for growth or acquisition, good financial returns are required.”

The studies are part of a major three year project, “Enhancing financial and economic yield in tourism”, by TIA, the Ministry of Tourism and Lincoln University, with support from the Ministry of Economic Development, Statistics New Zealand and Tourism New Zealand.

When completed late in 2007, the results of the research will be used to develop best practice guidelines for running profitable tourism and hospitality businesses. Toolkits and other resources will be developed to allow small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to better manage their assets and investments and cope with market volatilities.

TIA’s partnership in the project is a major commitment to the ongoing development of a research culture for the tourism sector.

TIA Members who have committed funding towards the research are Air New Zealand, SKYCITY Entertainment Group, Jasons Travel Media, New Zealand Hotel Council, Regional Tourism Organisations New Zealand (RTONZ), the Inbound Tour Operators Council (ITOC) and Budget Rent A Car.

The Tourism Business Research Summary Report, which summarises the key findings of the research, is available on the Ministry of Tourism website: www.trcnz.govt.nz

Key statistics about tourism:

- Tourism is the world's fastest growing industry

- New Zealand tourism arrivals have doubled in size since 1994 to 2.38 million

- Forecast annual growth is 4.7% on average for at least the next five years

- Tourism is New Zealand's single largest export sector and contributed $7.4 billion dollars to the economy in the year ended March 2004. That is 18.5% of exports

- Domestic tourism contributes $9.8 billion to the economy each year

- Tourism directly and indirectly employs 10 percent of the work force. That is one in 10 jobs in New Zealand.

- Tourism represents 9.4% of gross domestic product and generates nearly $500 million in GST returns from international visitors each year. Tourism is the only export sector whose international clients pay GST.

ENDS

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