Increase in domestic travel spend

Increase in domestic travel spend

Spending by domestic travellers increased by 9.3% to $7.5b in the year to December 2006, data released by the Ministry of Tourism shows.

The primary reason for the spend increase is considered to be a switch from day trips to overnight trips. Day trips have reduced by 6.4% while overnight trips have increased by 3.3%. Overnight trips generate higher expenditure overall, as accommodation is often purchased. Spending on overnight trips increased by 15.5% to $4.8b while day trip spending decreased by -0.6% to $2.6b.

This Domestic Travel Survey result has been corroborated by other key tourism monitors. For instance, outbound travel by New Zealand residents declined by 0.4% over the period which suggests that more Kiwis would be traveling internally rather than heading offshore. As well, the Commercial Accommodation Monitor recorded an increase of around 3% in guest night activity by domestic travellers for the same period. Together, these indicators point to a reasonably buoyant level of domestic travel activity.

The Domestic Travel Survey is a telephone survey of 15,000 New Zealand residents undertaken throughout the year. A range of data and reports from the survey are available on the Ministry of Tourism’s research website – www.tourismresearch.govt.nz

For further information, contact Markus Landvogt – telephone (04) 474 2683 or email markus.landvogt@tourism.govt.nz.

ENDS

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