Tourism, once New Zealand’s top overseas earner, lags behind dairy post-pandemic

While foreign visitor spending gained 7 per cent to a record NZ$18.1 billion (US$11 billion) in the 12 months through March 2025, it still lags behind the dairy industry’s NZ$23.1 billion of exports in the same period, according to government data released on Tuesday in Wellington.

Tourism overtook dairy as the nation’s top overseas earner in 2016 and remained there until the Covid-19 pandemic closed borders in 2020, decimating the industry.

The industry, which makes up around 8 per cent of gross domestic product and directly employs 6.8 per cent of the labour force, has recovered much of the lost ground.

However, arrivals from China, which before Covid-19 was the second biggest source of visitors, have yet to recover to their pre-pandemic level.

Tuesday’s Tourism Satellite Account report shows overseas visitor arrivals rose 4.3 per cent to more than 3.3 million in the 12 months to March 2025.