Our take on the latest Tourism data (Tue 14 Apr 2020)
Tourism arrivals declined by 11%pa
Departures of NZ tourists declined by 5.8%pa
Tourism arrivals from China declined by 90%pa
The key numbers...
- Tourist arrivals declined by 11%pa in February, while tourist departures declined by 5.8%pa.
- Unsurprisingly, tourist arrivals from China declined by 90% from February 2019 levels, due to the restrictions on foreign travel from China, which came into effect on February 3.
- Tourist arrivals from other Asian markets also began to slow during February, with double digit declines in arrivals from Singapore (-17%), Hong Kong (-26%), Taiwan (-27%) and Malaysia (-34%) compared to February 2019.
Provisional weekly overseas visitor arrivals
From all countries
...and our reaction
- February’s arrivals and departures reflect the first effects of COVID-19 on New Zealand’s international tourism sector.
- Provisional data shows that total arrival numbers in the week to March 19 were down 59% from a year earlier – the government introduced the 14-day self-isolation requirement for arrivals partway through this week.
- Job losses in the tourism and hospitality sectors will be the highest of all sectors in the New Zealand economy. We expect the borders to effectively remain shut for 12 months, and we are forecasting a decline of 90-100% in international tourism revenue in 2020/21.
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