Tourism

The city is home to many museums, theatres and arts festivals, including Te Papa Tongarewa (the Museum of New Zealand), the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, the Royal New Zealand Ballet, and the biennial Festival of the Arts.

Wellington is also a leading centre for creative industries, such as film and computer technology, and it is the home of the New Zealand Stock Exchange (NZX).

The city is situated alongside Wellington Harbour and surrounded by natural beauty including Zealandia, an award-winning eco-attraction just minutes from the central business district.

Wellington is marketed as the 'coolest little capital in the world' by Positively Wellington Tourism, an award-winning regional tourism organization set up as a council controlled organisation by Wellington City Council in 1997. The organisation’s council funding comes through the Downtown Levy commercial rate.

In the decade to 2010, the city saw growth of over 60% in commercial guest nights. It has been promoted through a variety of campaigns and taglines, starting with the iconic Absolutely Positively Wellington advertisements. The city’s long-term domestic marketing strategy was a finalist in the 2011 CAANZ Media Awards.

Tourism is a major contributor to Wellington’s economy, injecting approximately $1.3 million into the region annually and accounting for 9% of total FTE employment. The city is consistently named as New Zealanders’ favourite destination in the quarterly FlyBuys Colmar Brunton Mood of the Traveller survey and it was fourth in Lonely Planet Best in Travel 2011’s Top 10 Cities to Visit in 2011.

New Zealanders make up the city’s largest visitor market, with 3.6 million visits being made to Wellington each year. New Zealand visitors spend on average $2.4 million a day in the city. The capital has approximately 540, 000 international visitors each year, who spend 3.7 million nights and $436 million in the city each year. Wellington's largest international visitor market is Australia, with over 210, 000 making the trip across the Tasman and spending a total of approximately $334 million annually.

Cruise tourism to the capital is experiencing a major boom, in line with nationwide development. The 2010/11 season saw 125, 000 passengers and crew visit the city on 60 liners. There are 80 vessels booked for stopovers in the 2011/12 season – estimated to inject more than $31 million into the region’s economy and representing a 74% increase in the space of two years.

Wellington is a popular conference tourism destination due to its compact nature, cultural attractions, award-winning restaurants and access to government agencies. In the year ending March 2011, the city hosted 6495 conference events involving nearly 800, 000 delegate days; this injected approximately $100 million into the economy.

Popular tourist attractions include Museum of Wellington City & Sea, Wellington Zoo, Zealandia (Karori Wildlife Sanctuary) and Wellington Cable Car.