Income from tourism shows big increase

Press, 1 June 1985, Page 8

Income from tourism shows big increase

Wellington reporter ■ > and PA Earnings from international air fares and spending in New Zealand by overseas visitors in the year ended March, 1985, totalled $ll4B million, according to the Minister of Tourism and Marketing, Mr Moore. This was an increase of 45.1 per cent on 1983-84, according to Reserve Bank figures. There had also been a 15 per cent increase in the number of overseas visitors. : These results topped off a period of unprecedented expansion for the tourist industry, Mr Moore said. It confirmed the judgment of the Government in its moves to stimulate the tourism industry. Australia made the greatest contribution to the increased tourist traffic, with 265,597 visitors, a growth rate for the year of 18.6 per cent, compared with a growth rate of 3 per cent in 1983-84.

This increase meant that Australia had sent 41,633 more people than the previous year. Mr Moore said it was the equivalent of shifting a city the size of Whangarei across the Tasman Sea. Japan had sent more than 47,000 visitors in 1984-85, an increase for the year of 35.8 per cent, and; Japan had moved from fourth to third largest supplier of tourists.