Our take on the latest Tourism data (Mon 15 Jun 2020)
Tourist arrivals down 99%pa
Departures of NZ tourists down 98%pa
Tourist arrivals into Wellington and Queenstown down 100%pa
The key numbers...
- Tourist arrivals declined by 99%pa in April and tourist departures by 98%pa, with the border closure in place for the full month.
- Total tourist arrivals in April numbered only around 1,700, with more than 650 of these coming from Australia.
- Tourist arrivals into Wellington and Queenstown fell to zero.
Tourist arrivals and departures
Annual % change
...and our reaction
- April’s tourism figures provide a stark confirmation of the damage that COVID-19 has caused to New Zealand’s international tourism sector. The number of tourist arrivals is more than ten times fewer than the previous lowest figure dating back to 1980.
- The extension of the government’s wage subsidy scheme is likely to further delay the full effect of the decline on tourism employment.
- The move to COVID-19 Alert Level 1 provides some opportunity for domestic tourism to step into the breach. However, domestic spending will only provide partial relief to embattled tourism operators.
- Another possible light at the end of the tunnel is that a trans-Tasman or Pacific travel bubble might become a reality some months earlier than we had originally anticipated (in December).
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