Visitor arrivals from Asia continue to fall

11 September 2019

Visitor arrivals from Asia fell 1,700 (2.6 percent) in July 2019 compared with the same month last year, Stats NZ said today.

There were fewer visitors from China, Malaysia, and Hong Kong but more from Singapore, Taiwan, and Indonesia.

“Visitor arrivals from Asia have been falling for six months in a row when compared with the corresponding month last year,” population indicators manager Tehseen Islam said.

“The fall in arrivals from Asia was more than offset by an increase in visitors from other key markets, especially Australia and the United States.”

The total number of visitor arrivals was 255,600, up 5,100 (2.0 percent) in July 2019 when compared with the same month last year. The largest changes were from:

• Australia – up 1,900

• United States – up 1,000

• China – down 1,000.

Total annual arrivals at a peak of 3.9 million

Annual overseas visitor arrivals increased 104,400 (2.8 percent) to 3.9 million for the year ended July 2019 compared with the year ended July 2018.

The largest changes were from:

• Australia – up 41,700

• United States – up 29,800

• China – down 28,800.

The number of visitors who spent 15 days or more in New Zealand increased by 57,400 (5.4 percent) in the year ended July 2019 compared with the previous year. Visitors who spent 8 to 14 days in New Zealand increased 48,600 (4.5 percent) over the same period. Visitors who spent 1 to 3 days in New Zealand fell by 21,300 (3.2 percent).

New Zealand residents make over 3 million trips in July year

New Zealanders arrived home from 3.1 million trips overseas in the year ended July 2019. Of these, 1.3 million were from Australia, up 38,800 (3.2 percent). The next largest increases in New Zealand-resident traveller arrivals were from:

• Indonesia – up 20,500 (37 percent) to 75,800

• China – up 14,800 (12 percent) to 140,700.

The number of short-term trips made by New Zealand residents on an annual basis has remained high since breaking the 3 million mark in October last year. New Zealand-resident travellers made 3.9 percent more trips in the year ended July 2019 than in the previous July year.

In the month of July 2019, New Zealand-resident travellers made 4,900 (1.4 percent) fewer trips compared with the same month in 2018.

New Zealand-resident travellers take longer trips

The number of New Zealand-resident travellers who were away for 8 to 14 days increased by 45,800 (5.7 percent) in the year ended July 2019 compared with the previous year. Travellers who were away for 15 days or more increased by 48,600 (4.5 percent) over the same period.

Subnational data available in Infoshare

New Zealand-resident arrivals by New Zealand place of residence for the months June 2014 to July 2019 are now available in Infoshare (subject category: tourism; group: international travel and migration – ITM; table name: NZ-resident traveller arrivals by main destination and NZ area).

Data are available for New Zealand’s 16 regional council areas, 67 territorial authority areas, and 21 Auckland local board areas.

The Government Statistician authorises all statistics and data we publish.

For more information about these statistics:

• Visit International travel: July 2019

ends

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