Bay of Plenty's billion dollar tourism boom

Visitors to the Bay of Plenty are believed to have spent $1.8 billion in 2017. Photo/file

Visitors to the Bay of Plenty are believed to have spent $1.8 billion in 2017.

In figures released by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment today the Monthly Regional Tourism Estimates show the yearly spend was up six per cent compared to 2016.

Manager of sector trends Mark Gordon said within the tourism spend in the year to
December 2017, international visitors spent $575 million (up eight per cent compared with the year to December 2016), and domestic tourists spent $1.3 billion (up six per cent) in that period.

"When it comes to the monthly expenditure, tourism spend in Bay of Plenty for the month of
December 2017 is up 10 per cent compared with the month of December 2016," Gordon said.