Wellington - The impact of the international recession on New Zealand's tourist industry was highlighted Wednesday with official figures showing that spending by foreign visitors had fallen for the first time in a decade.

International tourists spent 9.3 billion New Zealand dollars (6.9 billion US dollars) in the 12 months ending March - 87 million New Zealand dollars less than the previous year, Statistics New Zealand reported.

The fall of nearly 1 per cent was the first since the organisation began keeping records of tourist spending in 1999.

The decline was offset by more New Zealanders taking vacations at home and spending 12.4 billion New Zealand dollars, a rise of 2.6 per cent on 2007-2008.

Bruce Bassett, research manager at the Ministry of Tourism, said international travellers remained critically important to New Zealand, accounting for more than 16 per cent of total foreign earnings. (IANS)