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Tourism in New Zealand is a rapidly growing, dynamic industry with many opportunities for new players.
Setting up a tourism business seems an attractive proposition—what could be better than making a living from helping people have a good time on holiday?
The reality is that it's hard work getting any tourism business off the ground and then it's more hard work keeping it going.
Tourism is the world's biggest and fastest growing industry. In New Zealand, tourism is a hugely significant contributor to our economy—earning nine percent of New Zealand's income (GDP) and supporting one in 10 jobs. (Statistics New Zealand. 2005. Tourism Satellite Accounts)
Tourism includes everything from the traditional holiday to educational travel, visiting friends and relatives, attending a conference, or going to a sports or cultural event. It may be close to home or it may involve travel to the other side of the world. The visitor may be looking for new cultures and new experiences, or simply a place to relax and rest.
The tourism industry is made up of the many and varied businesses catering to visitors including transport, food and beverage, accommodation, tours and activities, entertainment, retail and other services.
For New Zealand, our scenery is the basis of our tourism industry, as it is the draw card for international visitors. The tourism industry benefits from our natural environment and is playing an increasing role in helping to preserve it. Visitors are also increasingly interested in our Maori culture and heritage.
To help you get started, a free booklet produced by the Tourism Industry Association (TIA) is available called "Tourism in Action – a guide to starting and developing your tourism business". If you are interested in reading this guide, you can download it here.
Overall, New Zealand tourism is a success story, growing steadily over recent years to the point where it now plays a key role in our economy. Tourism is a major employer, with 105,000 people working directly in tourism and over 70,000 indirectly employed. (Statistics New Zealand. 2005. Tourism Satellite Accounts)
There are between 13,000 and 18,000 (Ministry of Tourism www.tourism.govt.nz) businesses in New Zealand tourism industry, the vast majority small or medium enterprises (SMEs).
International tourism is New Zealand's single biggest export earner, earning $8.1 billion (Statistics of New Zealand. 2005. Tourism Satellite Accounts) compared to the $5.7 billion earned by the dairy industry. Domestic tourism (New Zealanders travelling in New Zealand) earned $9.4 billion. Overall, tourism directly and indirectly contributes nine percent of GDP (New Zealand's income).
| Domestic Tourism |
|---|
| Year ended March 2006 |
| - New Zealanders took 14.4 million overnight trips away from home to other parts of New Zealand. |
| - They stayed away for an average of just over three nights. |
| - New Zealanders also made 31.5 million day trips of over 40 kilometres from home, almost half in Auckland, Waikato or Canterbury. |
| Monthly updates on visitor figures can be found on the Ministry of Tourism's Web site www.tourismresearch.govt.nz. |
| International Tourism |
|---|
| Year ended July 2006 |
| - The total number of international visitors was 2.38 million. |
| - Over a third (34 percent) visited in summer (December - February). |
| - The biggest group were Australians (37 percent), followed by the UK (12.2 percent), the USA (9.4 percent), Japan (6.1 percent) and South Korea (4.6 percent). |
| - Around half of the visitors (49.6 percent) came here for a holiday, followed by visiting friends and relatives (28.8 percent), business (11.2 percent) and "other" (10.4 percent). |
| - The average length of stay was 19.9 days. |
| Monthly updates on visitor figures can be found on the Ministry of Tourism's Web site www.tourismresearch.govt.nz. |
Ok, so what's next? Well for a start have a read of "Tourism in Action - a guide to starting and developing your tourism business". You can download this great booklet here.
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