Our take on the latest Tourism data (Thu 23 Jan 2020)
Tourist arrivals down 3.5%pa
Departures of NZ tourists up 1.3%pa
Australian arrivals down 1.2%pa
The key numbers...
- Stagnation of tourist arrivals turned into decline in November as the number of tourist arrivals into New Zealand fell 3.5%pa (or 13,700 less arrivals).
- Australia, which in 2019 was our strongest source of tourist arrival growth, saw a decline of 1.2%pa in November.
- The top five nations by tourist arrivals (Australia, China, US, UK, and Germany) were all down, resulting in 6,700 fewer arrivals in November 2019 compared with November 2018, contributing nearly half the decline.
- Falls in tourist arrivals were centred around Auckland and Christchurch, where visitor numbers were down 4.0% and 2.3%pa respectively.
- Queenstown arrival numbers are still going strong, with 12% more tourists in November 2019 than in November 2018.
Tourist movements in and out the country
Year-end annual % change
...and our reaction
- Weakness in the tourism sector has been hinted at by softer growth in tourist arrivals since July. The widespread decline in arrival numbers in November compounds these concerns.
- The slowing global economy is starting to take its toll on tourist arrivals. New Zealand is relatively expensive and isolated from the rest of the world, and spending on long-haul travel to New Zealand has been pushed down the priority list.
- Slowing tourist arrivals isn’t all that bad though. New Zealand’s tourism is built on a clean, green, and quiet image. Slowing tourist arrivals potentially gives the industry an opportunity to focus on quality rather than quantity.
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