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Australia and Asia Buoy Arrivals in February
Australia and Asia Buoy Arrivals in February
February visitor arrivals have shown a continued
return to growth and stability after last year’s economic
downturn.
Figures released today by Statistics New Zealand show that Australia continues to underpin New Zealand visitor arrivals, up 4.3 per cent (3,737) in February compared with 2009. However, other longer-haul markets are beginning to come back.
Overall, visitor arrivals were up by 4.4 per cent to 267,855 international visitors.
Tourism New Zealand Chief Executive Kevin Bowler said Australia had now shown 11 months of strong growth, and would continue to remain important particularly heading into the shoulder season.
“The current run of joint-venture activity by Regional Tourism Organisations is helping ensure New Zealand’s profile remains high in Australia, building on previous work that’s made New Zealand very visible in Australia over the past year.
“Tourism New Zealand is now looking at ways to increase the number of first-time travellers from this market, with the youth sector offering an opportunity in this space. A new campaign launched last weekend with MTV will help drive interest from younger first-time travellers,” Kevin Bowler said.
Visitor arrivals from China were up 40 per cent in February, but were almost flat when combined for January and February, taking out the effect of Chinese New Year. Chinese New Year fell in February this year and January in 2009, skewing arrivals for these two months.
Arrivals from the UK and US were down 4.7 and 1.0 per cent respectively.
Kevin Bowler said that while Tourism New Zealand planned to keep a high profile in Australia, stimulating growth in long-haul markets including the US, UK/Europe and China remained a priority for the longer term.
“Planning is underway around how we can improve both visitor arrivals out of China and the quality of the experience Chinese visitors enjoy in New Zealand, in order to maximise the massive potential of this market.”
ENDS
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