A Mixed Month For Visitor Arrivals

July 20, 2007

A Mixed Month For Visitor Arrivals

June showed a mixed result for visitor arrivals, but Australia did well and Japan showed some signs of improvement, Tourism New Zealand chief executive George Hickton said.

Visitor arrivals from Australia, New Zealand’s largest market for overseas visitors, continued to show healthy growth.

June is a traditionally quiet month for many major markets and with demand low the arrival results can be fickle, he added.

Total arrivals from Australia were up 7 per cent in June, compared with June 2006. However, arrivals for those visiting on holiday increased 15 per cent.

Of the 5600 additional visitors to New Zealand in June this year, almost 4000 of them were from Australia.

Tourism New Zealand, with the support of regional tourism organisations and operators, has been running the “What’s On” campaign since August last year.

Though Japan continued to show a decline, with arrivals down 2 per cent in June compared to the same time last year, it was a smaller decline than previously seen.

“Anecdotal feedback from Japan is that forward bookings are looking slightly stronger, and hopefully the picture is now improving,” Mr Hickton said.

Visitor Arrivals June 2007

Australia 63,669 up 6.5%
UK 9,576 down 2.7%
USA 14,402 down 11.5%
Canada 1,634 down 1.3%
China 6,650 up 25.2%
Korea 7,334 down 2.5%
Japan 7,353 down 1.8%

ENDS

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