Tourism and hospitality

The Northland Dashboard

(Data source: Infometrics Regional Database)

The visitor industry market has been important to the Northland economy for many years. The FTE (full time employment) ps for the sector disguise the fact that many thousands of local people source their employment from tourism, through part time, casual and weekend jobs, or running small, owner-operated businesses such as B&B’s.

As is the case with all industry sectors in the region, tourism has also been affected by the recession of the last five years; with both slowed economic activity and a decrease in the number of people employed.

The region dropped from GDP growth that was higher than the national average, to a low in 2009. Interestingly, ps from the last two years show that industry growth in Northland is matching precisely the national rate of growth in the sector.