¡¡¡¡WELLINGTON, January 31 (Xinhuanet) -- Despite the global down-turning travel, New Zealand still welcomed a record number of international visitors for a single calendar year in 2001, New Zealand Tourism Minister Mark Burton said in a government press release here on Thursday.

¡¡¡¡"1,909,391 people visited New Zealand last year, a 6.9 percent increase on the previous year. This is all the more remarkable, coming as it does on top of an 11.2 percent increase the previous year," he said.

¡¡¡¡"As a direct consequence of the terror attacks on September 11,the last three months of 2001 did see a decline in some of our key markets, especially Japan.

¡¡¡¡"However, New Zealand appears to be weathering the storm far better than many other countries," Burton said.

¡¡¡¡Visitors from Australia, easily New Zealand's biggest market, were up almost 10 percent for the year. And there have also been outstanding performances from emerging markets. Visitors from India went up 52 percent, according to the minister.

¡¡¡¡It is reported that over 50,000 visitors from China's mainland came to New Zealand last year.

¡¡¡¡Earnings from tourism are an increasingly important component of the New Zealand export sector, Burton said, adding that international visitors spent well in excess of 5 billion New Zealand dollars (2.15 billion U.S. dollars) in New Zealand last year.

¡¡¡¡He is confident that his country' tourism industry will enjoy a further, sustainable growth over the next decade. Enditem

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