Tourists spend $1.5 billion in Bay

PHOTO/FILE

New figures show tourism spend for the Bay of Plenty region is estimated to be $1.5 billion for the year to April 2016, up seven per cent compared to the year to April 2015.

The Monthly Regional Tourism Estimates were released by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) today.

Of this tourism spend in the year to April 2016, international visitors spent $496 million (up seven per cent compared with the year to April 2015), and domestic tourists spent $1.1 billion (up seven per cent).

MBIE Manager of Sector Trends Peter Ellis said this new data series provided quality and detailed information on regional spending.

"Better tourism expenditure information for the regions will help inform investment and planning in the tourism industry by providing further insights into where both domestic and international tourists are spending their money, and what their expenditure is on," Mr Ellis says.

MBIE developed the Monthly Regional Tourism Estimates in consultation with tourism industry representatives to create a better measurement of the value of tourism in the regions. This new data set will replace the Regional Tourism Indicators that were developed in 2012.