Early signs of recovery are being seen for the New Zealand tourism industry, with a growth in September arrivals figures.
Statistics New Zealand figures show that total arrivals for September 2009 increased 9.3 per cent on the same month last year; an additional 14,700 international visitors.
Tourism New Zealand Chief Executive George Hickton said the figures signalled a recovery in arrivals after the impact of the economic downturn and Influenza A (H1N1), which hit arrivals from Asia particularly hard earlier in the year.
Tourism New Zealand cites the Australian market as continuing to be the foundation for recovery. Tourism New Zealand’s ‘Which New Zealand Are You This Time’ campaign was launched in Australia in August and will continue to run till November.
Campaigns are also running in the UK and Europe ahead of the peak booking season, and in China. More competitive airfares and an improvement in confidence are helping stimulate US outbound travel.
However later booking trends among travellers are making it hard to predict summer results. Early indications are that summer is going to start slowly but pick up.
International Visitor Arrivals September 2009:
• Australia - 94,962 up 15.4%
• UK - 10,542 down 0.4%
• USA - 10,038 up 9.9%
• China - 6,342 up 15.4 %
• Japan - 6,258 down 3.5%
• Germany - 3,255 up 4.8%
• South Korea - 3,045 down 33.5%
• Canada - 2,058 down 3.8%
For further information contact:
Cas Carter, Corporate Communications,
Tourism New Zealand
Mob 021 915 410
Source: Tourism New Zealand Media Release
*The International Visitor Arrivals (IVA) survey provides monthly statistics on Inbound travel by international visitors to
New Zealand
, including visitors by country, purpose, length of stay, age, sex, port of arrival and mode of transport (air/sea).
IVA statistics are obtained from the monthly External Migration survey undertaken by Statistics New Zealand, using international passenger arrival and departure cards collected by Customs at various international airports and seaports in
New Zealand
.
The same survey also provides Outbound travel statistics of
New Zealand
residents on short-term overseas trips for a period less than 12 months.
