Visitor numbers still flying high

Visitor numbers still flying high

24 April 2018

A new high count of 3.82 million visitors arrived in New Zealand in the March 2018 year, Stats NZ said today. This was an increase of 276,200 (8 percent) from the March 2017 year.

“Two-thirds of this rise was due to more visitors from Australia, China, the United Kingdom, and the United States,” population insights senior manager Brooke Theyers said. “Over half of all overseas visitors were holidaymakers, and over one-quarter were visiting friends and family.”

March 2018 broke the record for the number of overseas visitors for a March month – overseas visitor arrivals numbered 388,300, up 44,500 from March 2017.

The top source of visitor arrivals in March 2018 was Australia, at 37 percent of all visitor arrivals. This shows a similar pattern to the total number of arrivals to New Zealand across the months. Of those visiting from Australia, 42 percent were visiting friends/relatives and 39 percent were holidaying.

The next top sources of visitor arrivals in March were:

China – 11 percent of visitor arrivals (11 percent visiting friends/relatives, 80 percent holidaying)
United States – 11 percent of visitor arrivals (19 percent visiting friends/relatives, 70 percent holidaying)
United Kingdom – 7 percent of visitor arrivals (46 percent visiting friends/relatives, 45 percent holidaying).

New Zealanders taking overseas trips in March matches the population of Wellington city

In the March 2018 month, New Zealand residents made 211,300 trips overseas, up 10 percent from March 2017. “New Zealanders took around the same number of trips overseas in March as the population of Wellington city,” Mrs Theyers said. Departures were up for every month of the March 2018 year, compared with the same month in the March 2017 year.

In the March 2018 year, New Zealand residents set a new annual record of 2.89 million overseas trips for any 12-month period. This was up 215,400 (8 percent) from the March 2017 year.The number of trips made to most countries increased, the largest rises were:
Australia – up 33,800 (3 percent)
Fiji– up 22,400 (14 percent)
China – up 18,600 (18 percent)
United Kingdom – up 13,100 (12 percent).

Ends

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