Associate Tourism Minister Paula Bennett has welcomed new forecasts showing tourism expenditure is expected to grow by 65 per cent to $16 billion in 2022.

The forecasts are contained in the New Zealand Tourism Forecast 2016 - 2022 report released by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) at TRENZ today.

“Tourism makes an important contribution and is critical to New Zealand’s economic success, so it’s great to see such a positive outlook for the growth of the sector,” says Mrs Bennett.

“The Government is working with the sector to ensure all regions can reap the benefits from this projected growth and tap into opportunities. These include emerging markets such as India, Indonesia and South America, which we are well-positioned to capture.

“Visitors to New Zealand are expected to spend more. The forecasts show China is expected to surpass Australia as New Zealand’s largest tourism market by spend in the next two years.”

The United States, United Kingdom, Japan and Germany - New Zealand’s other large tourism markets - are expected to remain healthy with projected growth ranging from 3.2 to 7.4 per cent per year to 2022.

“I encourage the sector to make use of this information which is aimed at helping the industry plan and invest strategically,” Mrs Bennett says.

The tourism forecasts and interactive web tool are available at: http://www.mbie.govt.nz/info-services/sectors-industries/tourism/tourism-research-data/international-tourism-forecasts