Visitor economy

Auckland as a destination

Economic impact

Auckland as a destination

Composition of tourism expenditure

Source: Infometrics: Regional Economic Profile

Auckland - monthly guest nights

Source: Fresh Info Accommodation Data Programme (ADP)

Auckland offers the first taste of New Zealand for many international visitors.

Around 75% of New Zealand’s international visitors pass through Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland at some point in their journey. This helps drive Auckland’s visitor economy, even if their primary destination is elsewhere.

The visitor economy was greatly impacted by COVID-19, as New Zealand had some of the world’s most restrictive border controls. However, the recovery has been strong – international passenger movements at Auckland Airport during the 2023/24 peak summer season were at least 90% of 2019 levels.

Domestic tourism is also extremely important for Auckland’s visitor economy, accounting for nearly half of tourism expenditure before COVID-19. Domestic visitors are particularly attracted to Auckland by major events, concerts and festivals that they may not otherwise be able to experience in their own regions. The retail and hospitality offerings in Auckland are also attractive.

- The year to March 2024 saw 2.2m international visitor arrivals to Auckland.
  - This is an increase of 49% from 12 months ago.
  - Holiday visitors (+88%) contributed the most to increase in visitor numbers over last 12 months.
  - International visitors are still down 14% from the year to March 2020.
- The region had 7.5m total guest nights in the year to March 2024, an increase of 22% on the previous year.
- For more data on Auckland’s visitor economy, see Tātaki Auckland Unlimited Monthly Auckland Destination Overview reports.
- In the year to March 2023, domestic visitors contributed 66% of total tourism expenditure in Auckland.
  - This is significantly larger than 2019, with international tourism yet to fully recover.
  - Domestic visitor spending has also increased since 2019 (not adjusted for inflation).
  - The largest domestic visitor market is the Waikato region, followed by Wellington.
- Australia is the largest international visitor market (10% of international visitor expenditure).
  - Prior to COVID-19, China was Auckland’s largest international visitor market. Chinese visitor numbers are starting to increase again, with travel restrictions now lifted.

Sources: Number of visitors – TAU: Monthly Auckland Destination. Composition of tourism expenditure, spending patterns – Infometrics: Regional Economic Profile. Auckland guest nights – Fresh Info Accommodation Data Programme (ADP)

Economic impact

    
            
            Employment
            GDP
            Expenditure
            
        

    
            2019
            70,183
            $5,474m
            $8,830m
         
        

            2023
            52,938
            $4,464m
            $7,686m
            
        

            Growth 2019-2023
            -24.6%
            -18.5%
            -13%
           
        

            Growth previous year
            93.0%
            77.1%
            82.4%
           
        




    
            Metric
            2019
            2023
            Growth
2019
-2023
            Growth
Previous
Year
        

    
            Employ-
ment
            70,183
            52,938
            -24.6%
            93.0%
        

            GDP
            $5,474m
            $4,464m
            -18.5%
            77.1%
        

            Expend-
iture
            $8,830m
            $7,686m
            -13.0%
            82.4%
        

Economic contribution of visitor economy to Auckland

Source: Infometrics: Regional Economic Profile

Tourism contributed $4.5bn to Auckland’s GDP in the year to March 2023. This is around $1bn lower than in 2019, with tourism levels yet to fully recover from COVID-19.

While the visitor economy employed over 70,000 people in Auckland in 2019, this number had fallen to 27,000 in the year to March 2022. Its GDP contribution followed a similar trend, falling from $5.5 billion to $2.5 billion.

However, Auckland’s visitor economy employment and GDP contribution have recovered strongly. It is conceivable that, once available, data for the year to March 2024 will show that it has recovered to near pre-COVID levels.

- The tourism industry employed 5.4% of Auckland’s workforce in 2023.
  - This is lower than the rest of New Zealand (7.7%).
- Auckland’s tourism industry employed 53,000 people in the year to March 2023 .
  - This was an increase of over 25,000 jobs in 12 months.
  - This was still below the 70,000 people employed in 2019.
- In the year to March 2023, Auckland’s visitor economy contributed $4.5bn to GDP.
  - This represents 3.1% of the Auckland region’s GDP, slightly lower than the rest of New Zealand (3.7%).
  - Auckland accounted for 34% of New Zealand’s visitor economy GDP in 2023.
- In 2019, Auckland’s visitor economy contributed $5.5bn to the region’s GDP.
- This represented 4% of Auckland’s GDP, similar to the rest of New Zealand.
- Tourism expenditure in Auckland in the year to March 2023 was $7.7bn.
- This is 26% of New Zealand’s total tourism expenditure.
- This is 15% below the $8.8bn spent in 2019 (in real terms). The rest of New Zealand is making a faster recovery, with expenditure back to pre-COVID levels (in real terms).
- The largest proportion of expenditure is made on retail sales by visitors to both Auckland (37%) and the rest of New Zealand (42%).

Source: Infometrics: Regional Economic Profile

Auckland Economic Monitor

A summary of key economic information about the region

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Auckland’s economy: What’s changed?

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Auckland’s economy is well-diversified - more than any other area of New Zealand - but it has a relative focus on high value service industries.

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Businesses

Auckland has around 225,000 businesses. They employ more people on average than the rest of the country.

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Auckland’s workforce is large, diverse, and skewed toward high skilled workers.

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Auckland’s consumer confidence is relatively low, reflecting the difficult economic conditions which exist today.

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Visitor economy

Auckland offers the first taste of New Zealand for many international visitors.

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Notwithstanding its GDP contribution of 37%, Auckland produced only 14% of New Zealand’s greenhouse gas emissions in 2022.

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