N.Z. given high tourist rating

Press, 14 October 1985, Page 18

N.Z. given high tourist rating

PA Wellington The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development rates New Zealand as the principal Pacific tourist nation.

An O.E.C.D. report says receipts for tourism in 1984, taking into account inflation and exchange rates changes, increased 45 per cent over the previous year. This growth figure for 1984 was beaten only by Turkey, and it far outstrips the extra 10% per cent registered by Australia. Radio New Zealand reported that the O.E.C.D. saw New Zealand’s increase as a trend towards sustained growth in international tourist flows towards the countries of the Pacific region. The report referred to the over-all policy aim of the New Zealand Government of “maximising the economic returns from tourism

while at the same time preserving New Zealand’s unique lifestyle and environment.” It also referred to the goals and strategies report by the Tourism Council and the Tourist and Publicity Department, Government initiatives for regional tourism, the work of the Tourist Industry Federation, and the exhibition of Maori art in New York and St Louis.

The O.E.C.D. experts report an acceleration in the actual number of tourists arriving in New Zealand of 1 per cent in 1982, 7 per cent more in 1983 and 13 per cent more last year. Of the 1984 total of tourists, the O.E.C.D. reported that 61 per cent more came from Asia and Oceania, 12 per cent more from Australia, 29 per cent more from Japan, and 15 per cent more from non-member States.