Inaugural New Zealand Tourism Leaders Symposium Keynote Address

Travel, tourism and hospitality represent the world's largest industry. They account for 8 percent of worldwide employment, 9 percent of invested capital and 10 percent of global GDP. And every year, millions of citizens leave their borders for the first time. This certainly holds true for New Zealand. While the domestic market still makes up the largest part of the industry, both in terms of visitor numbers and expenditure, your international visitor mix and expenditure is increasing at a faster rate. In addition to growth from traditional Australia and the UK, there is strong growth from China, New Zealand's fastest-growing international visitor market. China is projected to be the fourth largest market by 2010 and may surpass the US by 2013.