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This section looks at tourism’s contribution to the regional economy, in terms of visitor numbers, guest nights and expenditure. It also looks at visitors to national parks in the region and Department of Conservation (DOC) concessions. Table 5.1 provides a summary of the region’s performance across a range of tourism indicators in the latest two periods.
Table 5.1 tourism summary indicators
| Tourism | Latest | Previous | West Coast % Change |
New Zealand % Change |
| Tourism GDP ($m) | 87.5 | 86.3 | 1.36% | 0.21% |
| VIsitors (thousands) | na | 2,425 | -21.43% | -2.39% |
| Guest Nights (thousands) | 1,225 | 1,262 | -2.93% | -2.10% |
| Establishments (number) | 161 | 158 | 1.90% | 0.00% |
| Occupancy rate (%) | 36 | 37 |
-2.85% |
-4.14% |
| Concessions Granted (DOC) | 76 | 739 | -8.53% | na |
Tourism GDP for the West Coast grew, but at a lower rate than seen nationally. Guest nights fell at a similar rate to New Zealand as a whole. Establishments increased, but the occupancy rate fell. Concessions granted by DOC fell by 8.5 percent for the year.
Due to changes in Statistics NZ reporting, we have been unable to locate recent regional data on visitor numbers and international/domestic splits for guest nights.
Contribution to the regional economy
Tourism plays a crucial role in the West Coast economy, accounting for 9.2 percent of employment, 6.1 percent of GDP and 7.5 percent of business units. This compares to 5.2 percent, 4.1 percent and 4.0 percent respectively in New Zealand as a whole.1
Table 5.2 regional importance of tourism
| Tourism | FTEs | % | GDP ($2007m) |
% | Business Units |
% |
| Tourism-characteristic Industries | 1,029 | 7.3% | 58.0 | 4.3% | 239 | 6.1% |
| Tourism-related Industries | 167 | 1.2% | 9 | 0.7% | 34 | 0.9% |
| All non-tourism-related Industries | 91 | 0.6% | 15 | 1.1% | 25 | 0.6% |
| West Coast | 1,287 | 9.2% | 83 | 6.1% | 298 | 7.5% |
| New Zealand | 96,698 | 5.2% | 7,662 | 4.1% | 20,326 | 4.0% |
source: BERL Regional database, Statistics NZ, Tourism Satellite Account
The contribution of tourism to the local economy comes from three sources: tourism-characteristic industries, such as accommodation, restaurants, transport services, and cultural and recreational services; tourism-related industries, specifically retail trade; and all other industries, including everything from police services to mining.
The portion of Tourism-characteristic industries directly involved in tourism employed 1,029 FTEs in 2009, and produced $58 million in GDP through 239 business units.
Tourism-characteristic industries accounted for around 80 percent of tourism employment, 70 percent of tourism GDP, and 80 percent of tourism businesses.
It is worth noting the contribution of non-tourism-related industries. They contributed almost a fifth of tourism GDP ($15 million), but only 7.1 percent of FTEs and 8.4 percent of business units.
Table 5.3 presents the recent performance of the tourism industry on the West Coast and at a national level in terms of FTEs, GDP and business units.
Table 5.3 recent tourism performance
| %pa Change | |||||||
| Tourism | 1999 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2008 | 2009 | 1999 to 2009 |
| Employment (FTEs) | |||||||
| West Coast | 969 | 1,322 | 1,262 | 1,287 | -4.5 | 2.0 | 2.9 |
| New Zealand | 76,623 | 97,276 | 97,126 | 96,698 | -0.2 | -0.4 | 2.4 |
| Value Added or GDP ($2009m) | |||||||
| West Coast | 60.7 | 81 | 82 | 83 | 1.7 | 0.4 | 3.1 |
| New Zealand | 5,701 | 7,547 | 7,623 | 9,136 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 3.0 |
| Business Units | |||||||
| West Coast | 248 | 298 | 299 | 298 | 0.6 | -0.4 | 1.9 |
| New Zealand | 15,115 | 19,935 | 20,225 | 20,326 | 21.5 | 0.5 | 3.0 |
Tourism employment grew in the West Coast in 2009, up 2.0 percent. This follows a 4.5 percent fall in 2008. Value added by tourism rose 0.4 percent in the Region, similar to the national rise of 0.5 percent. The number of new tourism businesses fell 0.4 percent, compared with a rise of 0.5 in business number nationally.
Over the decade to 2009, tourism on the West Coast has performed strongly. Employment has risen by 2.9 percent per annum, around 320 FTEs, higher than the national growth of 2.4 percent per annum. GDP has increased by $13 million (3.1 percent per annum). The number of businesses directly attributable to tourism has increased by 50 units, or 1.9 percent per annum.
