Prime Minister’s Column-New Zealand’s tourism industry thriving
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2015.08.18 17:20
New Zealand’s tourism industry is thriving, which is great news for the economy. More people are visiting and staying for longer, as well as spending more each trip.
International visitor arrival numbers are at record levels, with nearly 3 million visitors coming to New Zealand in the year to June 2015. This is an increase of 7 per cent from the previous year and is thanks to large increases in visitors from countries such as China.
Visitor spending continues to grow as well and reached almost $8.2 billion for the year ending March 2015, up 21 per cent on the previous year. This is a total increase of $1.2 billion over the past 10 years.
As Tourism Minister, it’s great to see that it’s not only our main centres benefiting from the boom in international visitor numbers. Recent figures show nearly 50 per cent of spending by international visitors is done outside of the main centres of Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch.
Tourism is a significant part of our economy – it directly contributes 4 per cent of GDP and indirectly contributes another 3.1 per cent – and is a major employer of New Zealanders.
That’s why the Government has invested an unprecedented $600 million into promoting ourselves to the world and these record international visitor arrival numbers show that investment is getting results.
New Zealand values our connectedness with the rest of the world. Last year, we established a $10 million Asian Language Learning in Schools contestable fund to increase the provision of Asian languages in schools.
The aim is to provide young New Zealanders with opportunities to learn the languages of countries that we have strong trade relationships with.
Last week, Education Minister Hekia Parata announced 22 programmes will receive $3.3 million funding to establish new Mandarin, Japanese or Korean programmes, or expand existing ones in the first funding round.
These 22 programmes involve 129 schools across the country. Many of the primary and secondary schools are working together to provide a pathway for students to keep developing language proficiency throughout their school life.
I’m impressed with the innovative ways schools are sharing teaching skills and resources. Some groups are bringing students together over the internet, using virtual classrooms to overcome geographical barriers.
There are many benefits to learning a second language and this initiative is just one of several the Government has introduced to help encourage a more multi-lingual New Zealand.
