The line graph illustrates the average daily spending of three types of visitors to New Zealand between 1997 and 2017, namely business travelers, holidaymakers, and those visiting friends or relatives.
Overall, business travelers consistently spent the most money per day throughout the period, while visitors who stayed with friends or relatives spent the least. Although all categories experienced fluctuations, there was a general decline in spending after the early 2000s, followed by some recovery toward the end of the period.
In detail, spending by business visitors started at approximately $260 per day in 1997 and rose sharply to a peak of around $330 in the early 2000s. However, this figure then dropped significantly to below $200 around 2003. After fluctuating for several years, it remained relatively stable at about $210-$230 before increasing again slightly by 2017.
Holidaymakers followed a similar but less dramatic pattern. Their average daily expenditure began at just under $200 in 1997 and climbed to roughly $270 in the early 2000s. It then declined to around $200 by the mid-2000s and fluctuated moderately for the rest of the period, ending at approximately $250 in 2017.
By contrast, visitors who were staying with friends or relatives spent considerably less. Their spending rose from about $120 in 1997 to nearly $200 in the early 2000s, before steadily decreasing to around $120-$130 by 2010. Although there was a slight increase toward the end of the period, their expenditure remained the lowest among the three groups.