Cricket World Cup set to boost NZ tourism

The 2015 Cricket World Cup will help lift the number of tourists arriving in New Zealand from the UK temporarily but the markets driving long-term growth are Australia and China, a report says.

Spending by international visitors is expected to grow by 25 per cent to $8.3 billion by 2020, says the New Zealand Tourism Sector Outlook 2014-2020 released on Friday by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE).

In 2013, the number of international visitors rose by 6.5 per cent.

The forecasts show visitor numbers will grow by 850,000, 31 per cent, to 3.6 million between now and 2020.

"China and Australia will remain key markets in the coming years, with arrivals from these two countries projected to make up 80 per cent of visitors by 2020," the foreword to the report says.

China presents the biggest challenge and opportunity for the New Zealand tourism industry.

Visitor arrivals from China doubled in the three years to October 2013.

However, in the first half of 2014, visitor arrivals have been flat.

A new Chinese law aimed at preventing tour companies selling below cost tour packages, introduced in October 2013, may have slowed arrivals slightly, MBIE's Michael Bird says.

He says China presents a huge opportunity for the tourism industry.

"Getting China right will shape the outcomes for the whole sector."

Growth in arrivals from Australia hit 5.4 per cent in 2013, returning to pre global financial crisis levels.

Australia will continue to be a key market for the tourism sector in the long term, the report says.

Political instability in the Ukraine and the risk of a slowdown in China are cited as risks to the outlook.

Germans are very different to other visitors to New Zealand, the report says.

They typically enter on a working visa, stay for longer and spend much less per day than the typical visitor.

German arrivals grew 9.5 per cent in 2013.