Visitors hold tight to their wallets

International visitor numbers may have risen last year but the amount they spent fell, the latest International Visitor Survey has found.

The Ministry of Tourism survey shows that international visitors spent $6.3 billion last year - down 1.3 per cent on the previous year.

The spending fall comes despite an 11.2 per cent rise in the number of international visitors.

The ministry said a number of factors were behind the fall, including the high dollar, fewer international students and an increase in short-stay visitors from Australia.

The average spend from international visitors was $2929 a person in the year ended December 2004, down 12 per cent from the year earlier.

The ministry said this fall was largely due to a shorter average stay.

The average spend a day was relatively stable, down just 1 per cent from 2003.

Australian visitors spent the most in 2004, at $1.4 billion, a $262 million increase on the year earlier.

The next biggest spenders were British tourists with $887 million, followed by visitors from Japan at $649 million, the US at $611 million, China at $409 million and Korea at $325 million.

Ministry research manager Bruce Bassett said the high dollar particularly restricted spending by British and US visitors.

"While the relationships between exchange rates and tourism expenditure are not always clear, New Zealand has been a substantially more expensive destination to visit in 2004 than it has been for a number of years," he said.

A drop in international students led to a 16 per cent drop in spending by travellers coming to New Zealand to study.

Education visitors had average stays of 88.7 days, during which time they spent an average of $8312.

On average, visitors here on holiday spent 18.9 days in New Zealand, while tourists visiting friends or family stayed 21.6 days, with an average expenditure of $2106.

- NZPA