New Zealand winegrowers say they can still thrive without the international market.

A new report from Westpac is warning our growers they need to export overseas in order to succeed.

Turnover in 2017 was estimated at $2.5 billion, making it slightly smaller than the $2.9 billion accounting services industry.

It says our industry is pumping out five times the volume of wine it made at the turn of the century  and credits most of that to growth in exports.

New Zealand Winegrowers CEO Philip Gregan told Kate Hawkesby half of our winemakers sell exclusively in the domestic market and some do very well.

"Successful local growers need to have a good story and high quality product. 27 percent of tourists who come to New Zealand visit a winery."

Gregan believes wine tourism is proving to be a nugget of gold for our local winegrowers, with their success increasingly being helped by wine tours.

"You need to have a good story behind the vineyard, that makes all the difference. To carve out a business focusing on the domestic industry, there is a lot of opportunity."

With the New Zealand wine industry having a world renowned reputation, Gregan says there are still unexplored markets which have the potential to grow the sector even further.

"We have succeeded internationally because we produce high quality wines. There are markets like the US which still have a lot of untapped potential. We definitely view domestic tourism as a significant benefactor to the industry."

LISTEN ABOVE AS PHILIP GREGAN SPEAKS TO KATE HAWKESBY