Tourists tighten wallets

Tourists spent $161 million less in the year to June, with the Brits tightening the purse strings most.

Visitor spend was down 2.6 per cent over the year, mimicking the 2.8 per cent drop in arrivals, Ministry of Tourism research manager Bruce Bassett said.

But the spend was mixed depending on which country tourists came from, and was particularly noticed in business travel and trips to see family and friends.

Hit severely by the economic downturn, English tourist numbers have declined 10 per cent in the year to June, but spending was down by $188 million, an 18.6 per cent drop.

At the other end of the Ministry of Tourism statistics, Chinese tourists were down by 13 per cent but they were spending nearly three times as much for the same period.

A total of 107,500 Chinese visitors spent $334 million, up $73 million on the previous comparable period averaging $3106 per person. English tourists averaged $3148 per trip.

Aussies spent 3.3 per cent less in the June 2009 year than the previous one, despite an increase of 4.2 per cent in numbers, cracking the one million mark for the first time.

Germany, which overtook Korea as the fifth-largest source market during the year to June, also boosted its economic contribution by 19 per cent. An extra 2000 German tourists helped but they also were freer with their wallets.

The education travel market was a boost for the tourism economy, up 43 per cent with an extra $188 million.

- © Fairfax NZ News