Visitor numbers from China fall short of last year’s record
The number of visitor arrivals from China was 50,900 in February 2019, down 18,100 from the February 2018 month, Stats NZ said today.
The decrease was largely due to fewer arrivals during the 2019 Chinese New Year.
The total
number of visitor arrivals was 417,900 in February 2019,
down 5,500 compared with the same month last year. The drop
from China was offset by increases elsewhere. The next
largest changes were:
• Korea, up 1,800
• United
Kingdom, down 1,700
• Australia, up 1,200
• Taiwan, up 1,200.
Chinese New Year is a peak holiday season for travellers from China. The holiday began in early February this year. In 2018, it began in mid-February, and in 2017 it began in late January.
A
record number of visitors arrived from China in the 2018
Chinese New Year.
“There were 68,900 visitor arrivals from China in February 2018, which was more than double the 33,700 seen in 2017,” population insights senior manager Brooke Theyers said.
“Although February 2019’s figures are down compared with last year, they are still up 17,100 from 2017.”
The total number of visitor arrivals for the year ended February 2019 was 3.88 million, up 102,500 from the February 2018 year.
More resident travellers in February
There were 190,600 New
Zealand-resident travellers who returned from overseas trips
in February 2019. This was up 13,800 compared with February
2018. More New Zealand-resident travellers arrived back from
Australia (78,700 up 4,800) compared with the same month
last year. Other major changes were:
• China, up 5,300
• United States, down 1,700
• India, up
1,600.
Sydney most popular port
The most popular overseas port for New Zealand-resident travellers to fly back through in February 2019 was Sydney, which accounted for 36,200 resident travellers.
After
Sydney, the most popular ports for New Zealand-resident
travellers to fly back through were:
• Melbourne, with
29,400 resident travellers
• Brisbane, with 19,600
• Hong Kong, with 10,400.
The total number of New
Zealand-resident traveller arrivals for the year ended
February 2019 was 3.04 million, up 167,300 from the year
ended February
2018.