New Zealand's high dollar is making it more pricey for tourists, hurting the word-of-mouth recommendations when they get home, tourism research suggests.
About 2.6 million people visit each year and tourism is worth $NZ9.7 billion ($A7.87 billion) to the economy.
The bulk of them are visiting friends and family, and while appreciating the scenery, were a little disappointed with the weather last summer, according to Tourism New Zealand's Visitor Experience Monitor, released today.
It summed the responses of 4566 visitors who came to NZ in 2011/12. On average they rated their New Zealand visit 8.9 out of 10 for satisfaction, the same figure as the previous year, which was slightly down on the year before that.
"Essentially we are holding steady with tourists' satisfaction with New Zealand," said corporate affairs general manager Chris Roberts.
However, the proportion very likely to recommend others visit had slipped from 82 per cent in 2009/10 to 79 per cent.
They were less than happy with the cost of accommodation and food, and even less pleased with our fast food outlets, which with a rating of 6.9, was one of the lowest satisfaction responses in the survey.
The high New Zealand dollar - in 2009 it dropped under US50 cents but has now risen to about US82 cents - was blamed for making things more expensive.
That has also hit the number of regions tourists visit and the number of activities they take on. Two years ago they were averaging 16 activities per trip, but that has now dropped to below 13.
The top-ranked attractions were bush walks, mountain climbing, caving, photography and sports events, while the least satisfactory activities were visiting the Sky Tower, eating out, skiing, nightlife and shopping.
Mr Roberts said there were no concerning trends about how tourists perceive the environment.
While there had been tourist deaths, tourists were also not showing any concern about the safety of the activities.
Most were happy with their safety - unless they were on the road, where New Zealanders' aggression was a common talking point.
