22,500 new jobs envisaged

Press, 17 December 1985, Page 20

22,500 new jobs envisaged

PA Wellington Tourism will create 22,500 new jobs by 1990 according to a Tourist and Publicity Department survey. Relating figures from the survey of 1984 overseas tourist spending in New Zealand to other known statistics showed that 4800 new jobs in wholesaling and retailing would be created by 1990, the Minister of Tourism, Mr Moore, said, issuing the results of the survey. A further 2100 would be created in the building and construction industries, with another 200 new jobs in the amusement and recreation fields.

Mr Moore said the survey allowed several industries to look at their present reliance on tourism to a degree not previously possible.

“They can plot future growth by marrying the new finding with tourism

projections,”, he said. "What emerges over all is that visitors generate jobs in a lot of areas not traditionally seen as part of the tourism industry.” On projected growth figures tourism became an increasingly important generator of jobs. “The survey emphasises the need for retail centres to get behind their local regional tourism organisations and support tourism, both for the financial rewards and the job opportunities available to each community.” The report, “New Zealand International Visitors’ Expenditure” survey, is based on interviews with almost 10,000 visitors who stayed in New Zealand less than six months.

It found that about 12 per cent of total spending within the country by visitors was on goods in the retail sector — items such as clothing, sheepskin products, sou-

■venire, .and duty-free goods. Personal expenditure, a category which included retail spending, accounted for 24 per cent of the spending by international visitors. The sample group of 9792 people spent on average 26 per cent of their expenditure on accommodation and meals, a further 26 per cent on coaches and self-drive packages, 15 per cent on other transport, with the remaining 8 per cent not specified. Average daily spending for each visitor including children, was $55. Of the nationalities included in the sample, Japanese visitors spent the highest proportion of their expenditure on coaches and self-drive packages (37 per cent). British visitors spend only 8 per cent of their total expenditure in that category. The report shows the

relatively high amount of money visitors spend on buying clothes ip New Zealand. About 4.8 per cent of the total spending of international visitors is on clothing which the Tourist and Publicity Department believes indicates about $3O million was contributed to the clothing trade in the August, 1985, year. The report also shows that Australian visitors spend a greater proportion of their money on local entertainment than Japanese visitors. But the Japanese are way ahead in their demand for sheepskin products, a category which accounts for 9 per cent of the personal spending of all visitors. Whereas the average Australian visitor spent only 3 per cent of personal spending on sheepskins, the Japanese recorded a large 27 per cent for the products.