Our take on the latest Tourism data (Thu 16 Feb 2023)
Foreign tourist arrivals total 359,900 in December
Foreign arrivals outnumber Kiwi departures by 106,600
Australian tourist arrivals at 85% of pre-pandemic levels
The key numbers...
- There were 359,855 inbound tourist arrivals in December 2022, bringing monthly arrivals to 68% of pre-pandemic (December 2019) levels. This result was the highest number of tourist arrivals since February 2020, before New Zealand’s borders were shut early in the pandemic.
- December was the second consecutive month of positive “net tourism”, with 106,588 more arrivals than departures. Departures in December were 73% of pre-pandemic levels, and arrivals were at 68%.
- Queenstown Airport continued to perform well, with 37,871 arrivals in December, 13% greater than pre-pandemic levels. Arrivals into Auckland, Christchurch, and Wellington were at 68%, 55%, and 73% of pre-pandemic levels respectively.
- Australian arrivals were at 85% of pre-pandemic levels, and arrivals from North America were at 67% of pre-pandemic levels.
Encouraging recovery path
Monthly tourism arrivals, % of pre-pandemic levels
...and our reaction
- Another strong result in December for both foreign arrivals and departures suggests tourism demand in late 2022 was surprisingly resilient to the effects of high inflation and rising interest rates worldwide.
- Arrivals from China reached 13% of pre-pandemic levels in December. For comparison, Chinese arrivals were 7% of pre-pandemic levels in November, and 8% in October. This latest lift is encouraging evidence that more Chinese are starting to take the opportunity to head abroad, and could help to keep overall arrival numbers elevated even as weak global economic conditions work to dampen foreign arrivals.
- “Net” tourism as a proportion of pre-pandemic levels lifted from 35% in November, to 59% in December, due to a more rapid recovery in arrivals than departures. January to March are typically strong months for inbound tourism, as well as being softer in terms of the number of Kiwis heading overseas. However, the overall trajectory of recovery is likely to moderate as global economic conditions remain weak in the coming year.
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