Visitor Arrivals Up 10 Percent

Embargoed until 10:45am – 19 May 2006

Visitor Arrivals Up 10 Percent

There were 191,600 short-term overseas visitor arrivals to New Zealand in April 2006, up 16,900 (10 percent) on April 2005, Statistics New Zealand said today. Changes in the timing of Easter, from March in 2005 to April in 2006, may have contributed to this gain. More visitors came from Australia, the United Kingdom, the United States and China, and fewer from Japan compared with the previous April.

Seasonally adjusted monthly visitor arrivals were up 2 percent in April 2006, following no change in March 2006.

In the year ended April 2006, there were 2.396 million visitor arrivals, up 17,600 (1 percent) on the April 2005 year.

New Zealand residents departed on 162,800 short-term overseas trips in April 2006, up 3,200 (2 percent) on April 2005. There were more trips to Fiji, Italy and the United Kingdom, and fewer to the United States and China.

In the April 2006 year, there were 1.871 million New Zealand resident short-term departures, up 4 percent on the 1.797 million in the previous April year.

Permanent and long-term (PLT) departures exceeded arrivals by 400 in April 2006, compared with an excess of 700 departures in April 2005. The seasonally adjusted series recorded a net PLT inflow of 1,000 in April 2006, compared with a net inflow of 1,800 a month earlier.

In the April 2006 year, there was a net PLT migration gain of 10,100, up 8 percent on the net inflow of 9,300 people in the previous April year.

Brian Pink
Government Statistician

ENDS

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