Our take on the latest Tourism data (Tue 13 Jun 2023)
Foreign tourist arrivals total 221,300
Arrivals from China lift to 31% of pre-pandemic levels
Arrivals from Australia remain at 81% of pre-pandemic levels
The key numbers...
- Foreign tourist arrivals reached a new post-COVID high of 72% of pre-pandemic (2019) levels in April. Monthly arrivals continue to decline from their December 2022 peak as we enter the off-season, but remain on a recovery path from pre-pandemic levels.
- There were over 11,200 arrivals from China in April, a large jump from 7,300 in March. This increase lifted Chinese tourism arrivals from 18% to 31% of pre-pandemic levels. Arrivals from South Korea rose from 52% to 77% of pre-pandemic levels, and arrivals from Singapore lifted from 74% to 85%.
- Arrivals from Australia remained at 81% of pre-pandemic levels, and arrivals from the United Kingdom eased from 79% of pre-pandemic arrivals in March to 60% in April.
- The recovery of arrivals into Queenstown turned positive after three consecutive months of decline (although arrivals have remained above pre-pandemic levels since late 2022), reaching 118% of pre-pandemic levels. Arrivals into Auckland remained at 70% of pre-pandemic levels, and arrivals into Wellington dipped to 66%, the lowest proportion of pre-pandemic levels since August 2022. Arrivals into Christchurch lifted to 62% of pre-pandemic levels.
- There were 234,900 Kiwi departures in April. The path of Kiwi departures has been gently declining over the last three months, falling from 89% of pre-pandemic levels in February, to 85% in April.
Arrivals recover as departures stagnate
Monthly tourism arrivals, % of pre-pandemic (2019) levels
...and our reaction
- The 1.6 percentage point increase in foreign tourist arrivals from March was softer than the average monthly recovery of 4.5 percentage points over the last year. The recovery of arrivals from Australia (which currently make up almost 50% of total arrivals) remains stagnant, and the recovery of arrivals from France, Germany, the UK, and the Netherlands has dipped from March.
- Monthly arrival numbers from almost all countries have declined from March as we enter a quieter period for tourism. Counter to typical seasonal patterns, arrivals from China lifted by 4,000, and there were an increased number of tourists from Taiwan, Hong Kong, Malaysia, and Thailand as well. Tourism from Asia is not only driving the recovery from pre-pandemic levels, but also strongly supporting overall numbers.
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Continued stagnation of Kiwi departures suggests that cost-of-living challenges and rising debt-servicing costs are having a tangible effect on households’ appetite to travel. These pressures are confirmed by retail data showing that spending on discretionary items is declining.
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