Monthly Regional Tourism Estimates (MRTEs, 2016-2020)

The Monthly Regional Tourism Estimates (MRTEs) provide an estimate of regional monthly expenditure on tourism from both international and domestic consumers.

The Monthly Regional Tourism Estimates have been discontinued due to issues that have arisen from COVID-19. They have been replaced by an interim measure - the Tourism Electronic Card Transactions.

More caution should be used when interpreting the MRTES, due to COVID-19

The model used to estimate tourism spend in the MRTEs, and the assumptions underlying it, were designed for a stable tourism industry. Due to the large changes in tourism spend caused by COVID-19 (including the shift towards the domestic market, and the industry makeup of each region), these assumptions are likely to have been affected.

The model also uses the Tourism Satellite Account (TSA) in the weighting process. As the next TSA is to the year-ended March 2020, it will not be until the 2021 release that the impact of COVID-19 will be shown in this data. This has potential implications on the quality of the current MRTE methodology, and results.

Because of these issues, we have less confidence in the precision of the tourism spend estimates and we advise taking extra caution when interpreting the results.

MBIE will review the MRTE methodology and its outputs

We understand the MRTEs are a vital metric for regional tourism activity so MBIE has fast-tracked an internal review of the methodology to ensure it is fit-for-purpose. We will also be consulting with the tourism industry to improve the outputs. We intend to complete this review in the first half of next year and we will keep the industry up-to-date with progress as part of our regular communications.

In this section

Revisions and improvements

We make the Monthly Regional Tourism Estimates (MRTEs) more accurate by updating them with spending data from Stats NZ's annual Tourism Satellite Account.

Regional Tourism Estimates

The Regional Tourism Estimates (RTEs) provided regional stakeholders with absolute dollar estimates of tourism expenditure at a detailed regional level.

Regional Tourism Indicators (RTIs)

The Regional Tourism Indicators (RTIs) measure the change in level of expenditure of both international and domestic travellers in New Zealand by region.

Monthly Regional Tourism Estimates (MRTEs)

The Monthly Regional Tourism Estimates (MRTEs) provide estimates of regional monthly expenditure on tourism from both international and domestic consumers using tourism electronics card transaction data, tourism satellite account data, and international visitor survey data. The MRTEs indicate tourism’s contribution to the national and regional economies.

About the MRTEs

Read what the values in the Monthly Regional Tourism Estimates (MRTEs) represent and how they were produced in the MRTE user guide.

Last updated: 30 June 2021