Bay of Plenty of less than $20,000, compared with 43.2% of people nationally. Unemployment was at 6.1% of people 15 years or older, compared with 5.1% nationally. The Bay of Plenty is a popular holiday destination due to the warm and sunny summer climate and public beaches. The Bay of Plenty received over 645,000 tourists in 2003, equivalent to one in three visitors to New Zealand coming to the region. Rotorua is a popular destination for international visitors, in particular the surrounding geothermal areas and Māori cultural centres. Tauranga is a popular domestic tourism destination, and also becoming popular internationally. Whale watching has
Bay of Plenty become a popular attraction as the number of whales such as blue whales and humpback whales migrating into bay waters began to recover. The Bay of Plenty has 227 km of rail network and 4,460 km of roads. The main rail line in the region is the East Coast Main Trunk Railway, which extends from Hamilton in the Waikato region to Kawerau via Tauranga, with the Murupara Branch Railway extending the Kawerau terminus to Murupara, and the Mount Maunganui Branch connecting the Mount Maunganui terminus with the East Coast Main Trunk. Rail networks in the region are used exclusively for