About the data

Where each figure in Waypoint comes from, how often it is updated, and what to keep in mind when using it.

Beta status

Waypoint is in beta. We are validating every figure against the original published releases. Where a figure is provisional or based on a small sample, it is marked next to the figure itself.

If something looks wrong, please tell us. We review every report.

International Visitor Survey IVS

How much international visitors spend, where they come from, what they do, and how satisfied they are.

Published by: Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE)
Updated: Quarterly
Licence: CC BY 4.0

Survey estimates. Small groups (for example, a single country in a single quarter) can be volatile.

View international visitors in Waypoint · Official release (opens in new tab) · Methodology (opens in new tab)

Domestic Visitor Survey DVS

How New Zealanders travel within the country: trips taken and planned, spend, motivations, and satisfaction.

Published by: Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE)
Updated: Six-monthly
Licence: CC BY 4.0

Survey estimates. Regional breakdowns are by where the traveller lives, not where they travelled.

View domestic travellers in Waypoint · Official release (opens in new tab) · Methodology (opens in new tab)

Tourism Volumes & Flows TV&F

How many visitors are present in each area, for how long, and where they come from, estimated from anonymised mobile data.

Published by: Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE), developed by Vistr
Updated: Monthly
Licence: CC BY 4.0

Modelled estimates from anonymised mobile data. Low counts are rounded or suppressed.

View visitor volumes & movement in Waypoint · Official release (opens in new tab) · Methodology (opens in new tab)

Monthly Regional Tourism Estimates MRTE

Estimated visitor spend by region, industry, and visitor origin, modelled from card transactions and official statistics.

Published by: Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE), developed by Marketview
Updated: Monthly
Licence: CC BY 4.0

Modelled estimates, revised as new benchmark data is released.

View regional spend estimates in Waypoint · Official release (opens in new tab) · Methodology (opens in new tab)

Accommodation Data Programme ADP

Guest nights and occupancy in commercial accommodation, by area and property type.

Published by: Funded by MBIE and managed by Fresh Information Ltd; published via TEIC
Updated: Monthly

Covers commercial providers with six or more stay units. Available from June 2020.

View accommodation in Waypoint · Official release (opens in new tab) · Methodology (opens in new tab)

Waypoint calculations

These measures are calculated by Waypoint from the datasets above. They are not official statistics, and are labelled “Waypoint analysis” wherever they appear. Definitions are in the Glossary.

Regional NPS: Net Promoter Score attributed to each region in proportion to the nights visitors spent there. Based on IVS and DVS.
Tourism Strength Index: A composite view of how each region is tracking across spend, visitor days, and accommodation. Based on MRTE, TV&F and ADP.
Regional rankings: Each region ranked against the other 15 on a single published measure. Based on MRTE, TV&F, ADP, IVS and DVS.
Spend per visitor day: MRTE visitor spend divided by TV&F visitor days for the same area and period. Based on MRTE and TV&F.
Sentiment and themes: Waypoint’s own analysis of what international visitors write about their trip. This is proprietary to Waypoint and is not an MBIE statistic. Based on IVS free-text responses.

How to cite

When you quote an official figure, credit the original publisher. You can also mention Waypoint as the place you found it:

Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE). International Visitor Survey (IVS). Retrieved via Waypoint, https://www.waypoint.net.nz/data/ivs. Original release: https://www.mbie.govt.nz/immigration-and-tourism/tourism-research-and-data/tourism-data-releases/international-visitor-survey-ivs
Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE). Domestic Visitor Survey (DVS). Retrieved via Waypoint, https://www.waypoint.net.nz/data/dvs. Original release: https://teic.mbie.govt.nz/teiccategories/datareleases/dvs/
Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE), developed by Vistr. Tourism Volumes & Flows (TV&F). Retrieved via Waypoint, https://www.waypoint.net.nz/data/tvf. Original release: https://teic.mbie.govt.nz/teiccategories/datareleases/tv&f/
Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE), developed by Marketview. Monthly Regional Tourism Estimates (MRTE). Retrieved via Waypoint, https://www.waypoint.net.nz/data/mrte. Original release: https://teic.mbie.govt.nz/teiccategories/datareleases/mrte/
Funded by MBIE and managed by Fresh Information Ltd; published via TEIC. Accommodation Data Programme (ADP). Retrieved via Waypoint, https://www.waypoint.net.nz/data/adp. Original release: https://teic.mbie.govt.nz/teiccategories/datareleases/adp/

When you quote a Waypoint calculation, such as regional NPS or sentiment themes, credit Waypoint:

Waypoint analysis of MBIE data. https://www.waypoint.net.nz/about-data#waypoint