Visitor Arrivals

Last Updated on: 28 June 2010

Between 1999 and 2008, total visitor arrivals from South Korea increased by 80 per cent. However, growth of the market has been volatile since the 1990s. While the outlook for overall visitor arrivals is not strong short term, the honeymoon and Free Independent Traveller (FIT) sectors are expected to recover first.

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 NZD2,627 (-3.5%)
Total Annual Spend by Visitors NZD185.5m (-10.6%)
Regional Spread of Visitors 28% travel outside of main regions
Key Regions Visited (by more than one in five visitors) Auckland, Canterbury, Queenstown, Rotorua, Fiordland, Waikato

Market Growth and Seasonality

January is the strongest month for South Korean visitor arrivals. Arrivals are spread out relatively evenly for the rest of the year.

Arrivals declined 21 per cent in the year ending December 2008 and 33 per cent in the year ending December 2009. The H1N1 Influenza (Swine Flu) outbreak in May 2009 and the global economic crisis have contributed significantly to the decline.

However, the Korean economy was the first out of recession and grew strongly over the last half of 2009, positively impacting arrivals to New Zealand since December 2009.

The South Korean outbound travel market is characteristically volatile, so dips and rises in arrivals are not unusual.

The Ministry of Tourism's current forecast is for arrivals to increase on average 1.3 per cent a year between 2009 and 2015.

 

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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 2,440 +54.0% 34,290 -11.1%
Apr 10 3,024 +36.1% 33,434 -18.3%
Mar 10 4,914 +75.0% 32,632 -24.5%
Feb 10 3,100 +10.5% 30,526 -31.5%
Jan 10 4,930 +51.8% 30,232 -34.7%
Dec 09 3,456 +33.3% 28,550 -43.1%
Nov 09 2,645 -19.8% 27,686 -47.1%
Oct 09 2,116 -45.2% 28,341 -48.9%
Sep 09 1,449 -47.1% 30,089 -47.2%
Aug 09 2,184 -49.4% 31,377 -46.6%
Jul 09 2,484 -50.2% 33,505 -42.7%
Jun 09 1,548 -62.1% 36,013 -38.8%

Want to know more?

For more information on visitor arrivals and the behaviour of visitors from South Korea, 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.