Visitor Arrivals

Last Updated on: 28 June 2010

Visitor numbers from Japan declined 30 per cent between 1999 and 2008. At the same time the outbound travel market from Japan decreased by around 10 per cent.

There are some signs of a return to growth in early 2010. Visitor arrivals were up 4.3 per cent for the period January to March 2010, compared with the same period in 2009.

Visitor Key Facts (YE March 2010)

Source: Ministry of Tourism Research Website

Median Length of Stay of Holiday Visitors 6 days
Average Expenditure per Holiday Visitor NZD3,792 (-25.2%)
Total Annual Spend by Visitors NZD348.5m (-25.9%)
Regional Spread of Visitors 45% travel outside of main regions
Key Regions Visited (by more than one in five visitors) Auckland, Canterbury, Queenstown, Rotorua, Mckenzie, Waikato, Fiordland

Market Growth and Seasonality

November to March are peak periods for Japanese visitor arrivals into New Zealand.

In recent years, total arrivals from Japan have been in steady decline. This has been further exacerbated by the H1N1 Influenza A (Swine Flu) outbreak in May 2009 and the global economic crisis, which saw school visits cancelled and a lack of new bookings from leisure travellers during May to September 2009.

The year ending December 2009 saw 78,426 total arrivals, down 23.5 per cent from one year ago.

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Holiday Visitor Arrivals 2009-2010

Source: Statistics New Zealand

Month Month End Actual Month End Variance Year to Date Actual Year to date Variance
May 10 3,960 +64.2% 57,369 -16.6%
Apr 10 3,456 -24.8% 55,821 -21.4%
Mar 10 8,060 +1.5% 56,963 -20.6%
Feb 10 6,850 -5.2% 56,847 -22.0%
Jan 10 5,829 +16.3% 57,219 -22.5%
Dec 09 6,102 -11.7% 56,402 -26.4%
Nov 09 6,187 +1.5% 57,212 -27.0%
Oct 09 4,669 -12.0% 57,119 -32.9%
Sep 09 4,620 -6.6% 57,754 -32.9%
Aug 09 3,738 -43.4% 58,079 -33.7%
Jul 09 2,530 -59.9% 60,941 -31.1%
Jun 09 1,368 -74.9% 64,723 -27.0%

Want to know more?

For more information on visitor arrivals and the behaviour of visitors from Japan, including their activity and accommodation preferences, spend and length of stay, please see the International Visitors Survey Pivot Tables on the Ministry of Tourism's research website.

See also the Ministry of Tourism's key international visitor market reports, which include visitor trends and characteristics for the period 1999-2008.