Key international RTI data tables

About the data

The information contained in the following graphs and tables is in index form. The index reports spend compared to the average month in 2008, which is defined as 100. A value of 110 for an index means spend is 10% above the 2008 average.

See About the Regional Tourism Indicators (RTIs) for more information.

Graph 1: Total international spend for whole country

The average international index for the 12 months ending April 2016 was 119 — that is, 19% above the average spend in 2008. This index continued its increase from December 2013. International visitor spending in April 2016 (an index of 113) was greater than compared with April 2015 (an index of 102), indicating strong nationwide performance for April 2016.

Most regional tourism organisations (RTOs) recorded stronger international spending for April 2016 compared with April 2015.

Four RTOs recorded international spending growth of at least 20%, with the North Canterbury experiencing the highest growth of 25%. Central Otago RTO recorded the largest decline of 14%.

Graph 2: Monthly spend index

Total international, last 3 months

Table 1: Monthly spend index

Total international, annual percentage change from April 2015 to April 2016 for selected RTOs

This table shows the April 2015 and April 2016 indexes from Graph 2.

Table 1 shows that, of the 6 selected RTOs, the Auckland RTO (up by 17%) had the highest growth in monthly spend over the last 12 months, followed by Dunedin and Queenstown RTOs (up 16%).

The historical monthly series for the international RTIs by RTO and territorial authority are available for download below:

Table of total international RTI by Regional Tourism Organisation [XLSX, 114 KB]

Table of total international RTI by Stats NZ Territorial Authority [XLSX, 338 KB]

Note: Territorial authority (TA) indexes, particularly for small TAs, are more volatile than RTO indexes and should be used and interpreted with caution.

Core tourism goods and services

For international spending, the rolling average core tourism goods and services index for the 12 months ending April 2016 was 132 — that is, 32% above the average spend in 2008.

International spending on core tourism goods and services for all New Zealand was greater in April 2016 (an index of 127) than in April 2015 (an index of 113).

Most RTOs showed stronger international spending on core tourism goods and services than compared with April 2015. The most notable growth occurred in the following RTOs:

• North Canterbury (up 31%)
• Fiordland RTO (up 25%)
• Lake Wanaka RTO (up 25%).

For a full list of contributing ANZSIC categories, see the definitions table:

RTI definition tables [XLSX, 74 KB]

The historical monthly series for the international RTIs for tourism goods and services by RTO are available for download below:

Table of international core tourism goods and services RTI by Regional Tourism Organisation [XLSX, 114 KB]

For breakdowns by country of origin see RTI detailed data.