Our take on the latest Tourism data (Mon 16 Mar 2020)
Tourist arrivals up 2.9%
Departures of NZ tourists up 3.3%pa
Chinese arrivals up 15%pa
The key numbers...
- Tourist arrivals increased by 2.9%pa in January, the fastest rate since April 2019.
- Tourist arrivals from China increased by 15%pa, boosted by the earlier timing of Chinese New Year in 2020, and breaking a trend of declining Chinese arrival numbers dating back to February 2019.
- The other countries that make up New Zealand’s three largest tourism markets also recorded growth in January, with arrivals from Australia and the US up 3.2% and 6.3%pa respectively.
- Tourist arrivals into Auckland, which accounts for roughly 70% of international arrivals, recovered to be up by 2%pa, while Queenstown arrivals grew by 14%pa.
Tourist arrivals from China
Annual running total
...and our reaction
- The increases in numbers from each of New Zealand’s three largest tourist markets suggest that, prior to the COVID-19 outbreak, conditions for the tourism sector were relatively positive.
- We anticipate both arrival and departure numbers will drop dramatically from February onward, as the effects of travel bans and other border control measures are reflected.
- The tourism sector is likely to be one of the major focus areas for any fiscal support that will be announced by central government tomorrow.
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