by Mike Bain- The Daily Examiner.

New Zealand continues to experience a remarkable surge in overseas visitor arrivals, with a total of 3.3 million visitors in the year ending December 2024. This represents an increase of 357,000 (12 percent) from the previous year, according to data released by Stats NZ. The significant growth in visitor numbers has been driven by key markets such as Australia, China, and the United States.

Its news that Tourism and Hospitality Minister Louise Upston has welcomed that New Zealand’s tourism sector continues to gather strength. according to latest data.

The Tourism Satellite Account released by Stats NZ shows total tourism expenditure in New Zealand of $44.4 billion for the year ending March 2024, an increase of $5.6 billion or 14.6 per cent compared to March 2023.

Overseas visitor expenditure increased by $6.3 billion (59.9 per cent) to $16.9 billion

“The big story is that international expenditure grew almost 60 per cent in the year ending March 2024,” Louise Upston says.

“This encouraging news reflects a healthy recovery following the end of border restrictions in June 2022 and shows that many people all over the world couldn’t wait to visit New Zealand.

“We know tourism is critical to our economic growth. That’s why as a Government we’re laser focused on partnering with the sector to continue this growth – already this month, we’ve announced:

• $500,000 for marketing New Zealand as the ‘go now’ destination for Australians

  

• $30 million to support conservation visitor related experiences
• $3 million for regional tourism boost
• $9 million for Great Rides cycle infrastructure

“Tourism now contributes 7.5 per cent of GDP according to this data – and continues to be our second highest export. I want to see it back at number 1.

“We do also recognise a drop in domestic tourism spend reported. That’s another reason to grow our economy so New Zealanders can benefit, and get out and travel their country as well,” Louise Upston says

Australia led the increase in visitor arrivals, with an additional 127,000 visitors (10 percent) compared to 2023. China followed closely with an impressive increase of 97,000 visitors (64 percent), while the United States saw an increase of 32,000 visitors (10 percent). These three countries were the main sources of visitor arrivals to New Zealand, contributing significantly to the overall growth.

Sarah Drake, international travel statistics spokesperson, highlighted the role of increased international flights in this growth. “There were just over 2,200 more international flights to New Zealand in 2024 than in 2023,” Drake said. “This included 1,700 more direct flights from Australia, China, and the United States, combined.”

Record-Breaking Numbers

The data reveals that there were 1.4 million visitor arrivals from Australia, followed by the United States with 370,000, China with 248,000, the United Kingdom with 180,000, and India with 83,000.

Notably, the 370,000 visitor arrivals from the United States in 2024 set a new record for a calendar year, making up just over 1 in 10 of all visitor arrivals.

Increase in Holidaymakers

In 2024, there were 1.6 million arrivals to New Zealand by overseas visitors taking a holiday, up 279,000 (21 percent) from 2023. “A holiday was the

main purpose of travel given by just over half of visitor arrivals in 2024,” Drake said. “

The second most popular purpose was visiting friends and relatives, which accounted for one-third of visitor arrivals.” Just over 1 million overseas visitors arrived to visit friends and relatives in 2024, up 58,000 (6 percent) from 2023.

December 2024: A Month of Growth

The month of December 2024 saw 469,800 overseas visitor arrivals, up 51,000 (12 percent) from December 2023. This was the highest number of overseas visitor arrivals in December since 2019, just before the COVID-19-related disruption to international travel.

In December 2024, overseas visitor arrival numbers were 89 percent of their pre-pandemic level in December 2019.

Visitor Arrivals by Country

The top five countries of residence for overseas visitor arrivals in 2024 were Australia, the United States, China, the United Kingdom, and India. The number of visitor arrivals from these countries showed significant growth compared to previous years, reflecting the increasing popularity of New Zealand as a travel destination.

Purpose of Visit

By purpose of visit, short-term visitor arrivals to New Zealand in 2024 showed notable increases in several categories:

• Holiday: up 68.6 percent (599,854 arrivals)
• Visiting friends and relatives: up 17.0 percent (146,815 arrivals)
• Conferences and conventions: up 83.4 percent (28,116 arrivals)
• Business: up 27.7 percent (42,928 arrivals)
• Education: up 89.5 percent (23,841 arrivals)

Reaction from Tourism Industry Leaders

Tourism Industry Aotearoa (TIA) Chief Executive Rebecca Ingram is optimistic about the growth in visitor numbers.

“The figures are big, and they reiterate the important role tourism has in the economy,” Ingram said.

“Tourism is one of the country’s largest employers, directly and indirectly supporting 303,420 jobs for the year to March 2024 – 10.7% of the country’s entire jobs market”.

Ingram also highlighted the potential for further growth, with tourism businesses rebounding well and new experiences being created.

Business New Zealand Chief Executive Katherine Rich echoed Ingram’s sentiments, emphasizing the importance of continued investment in infrastructure to support the growing number of visitors.

A week ago Labour and the Greens were critical of the government advising them to focus spending on tourism infrastructure, after the announcement of $500,000 for the “Every one must go ” ad campaign in Australia.

Green Party Tourism spokesperson Celia Wade-Brown said the campaign was short-term thinking from the government.

Rather than being positive towards the campaign she saw different connotations in the slogan.

“I think ‘Everyone Must Go’ might refer to the need for toilets in some of our high-tourist spots. I mean, the queues are ridiculous.

“I was up in Paihia for Waitangi, and people were saying when the cruise ship comes in it doesn’t really benefit many tourism operators, because too many people here for too short a time.

“They don’t go kayaking, they don’t go diving, but, my goodness, they queue at the toilets.

Labour’s tourism spokesperson Cushla Tangaere-Manuel said the party supported the goal of growing the tourism industry, but the government’s initiative was a highly targeted short-term approach that offered little long-term vision.

“The theme with the policies that have been rolling out across the board recently seem a bit knee jerk to me,” she said.