An additional 7500 visitors from key Asian markets in July has
helped offset declines from North America and Europe and taken New
Zealand to a new monthly arrivals record.
Statistics New Zealand arrivals figures out today showed that
overall arrivals in July increased by almost 4 per cent (or 6700
visitors) in July 2010, compared with the same month a year
earlier.
Tourism New Zealand Chief Executive Kevin Bowler said visitor
arrivals from New Zealand's western long-haul markets remained
soft, which was unsurprising given the ongoing economic uncertainty
in the UK and US.
However, arrivals from Asian countries including Japan, China
and South Korea were in rapid growth, reflecting a recovery from
last year's Influenza A H1N1 (Swine Flu) pandemic.
"We are seeing an underlying softening trend in arrivals from
our major western markets which is a concern; fortunately, steady
growth from Australia and a recovery in Asian arrivals are
currently helping to offset that," Kevin Bowler said.
Arrivals from China in July 2010 marked all time high with 8,040
visitor arrivals; the second highest arrivals month was July 2007
(at 7,728).
Tourism New Zealand this week released initial findings of new
research into what drives offshore visitors to come to New
Zealand.
"Recently some of New Zealand's tourism marketing has started to
position New Zealand as a somewhat intrepid and exotic place for a
holiday, but this new research shows we are actually a fairly
mainstream holiday destination competing with destinations such as
Canada, the US, France, and Italy."
Kevin Bowler said the research also showed that visitors wanted
to see New Zealand as a friendly and accessible place to have a
holiday; somewhere they could come to have fun and relax.
"Nature and the environment remain at the heart of what sells a
New Zealand holiday, but people also want to be reassured that they
will be able to enjoy that natural environment in a more fun and
accessible way than perhaps we've shown in the past," Kevin Bowler
said.
International Visitor Arrivals July 2010:
| . |
Month of July 2010: |
Year-ending July 2010: |
| Australia |
94,776 |
up 1.7% |
1,121,040 |
up 9.5% |
| UK |
9,552 |
down 19.8% |
246,568 |
down 5.6% |
| USA |
11,712 |
down 13.1% |
192,242 |
down 2.0% |
| China |
8,040 |
up 94.2% |
109,090 |
up 4.0% |
| Japan |
6,480 |
up 73.9% |
86,341 |
up 3.5% |
| Germany |
3,432 |
down 0.5% |
65,003 |
up 2.8% |
| South Korea |
5,952 |
up 15.5% |
62,044 |
up 5.7% |
| Canada |
2,496 |
down 4.0% |
48,512 |
down 2.2% |
For more information contact:
Sue Allen, 029 917 5466 or suea@tnz.govt.nz
Tourism New Zealand research
findings