October Fest for Visitors to New Zealand
Fri, 19 Nov 2004
A European charge has led another month of growth for the New Zealand tourism industry.
New Zealand's main European markets - Germany and the United Kingdom -both produced strong visitor arrivals growth in
October, according to figures released today by Statistics New Zealand.
In total there were 181,371 arrivals during the month of October, up 9.4% from the previous year, with both Germany and
the United Kingdom up 10%.
"Our traditional markets continue to deliver" says George Hickton Chief Executive Tourism New Zealand. "Air capacity, a
positive travel industry and a high media profile for New Zealand, are helping keep us top of mind in Europe."
"New Zealand has won a number of awards in Europe over the last months. We were voted best destination by The Daily
Telegraph, and only last week Blanket Bay in Queenstown was judged as the world's ultimate escape by The Sunday Times.
Awards like these provide a tremendous amount of publicity in this market."
"Importantly, this publicity is also being backed up by a very supportive travel trade, which is helping convert the
demand into sales."
"We recently celebrated the best of the United Kingdom's travel trade at the New Zealand Tourism Awards in London, with
the level of competition higher than ever before. In Germany this week we also saw the launch of the Dertour catalogue -
the largest wholesaler catalogue in the country - which featured a New Zealand cover shot for the first time."
"Tourism New Zealand will continue to work to maximise our profile in this market."
"We hosted 92 staff from Dertour to New Zealand in 2003, in conjunction with Air New Zealand, and we continue to support
travel trade familiarisations and training sessions."
"We have also recently launched a Kiwi Specialist programme in the United Kingdom, to further motivate the travel trade
to sell high-quality, high-value New Zealand holidays."
As in previous months Australia continued to deliver strong results in October, up 17.4% for the month. The United
States was also up by 7.6%.
Total arrivals to New Zealand to the year end October 2004 are at 2.3 million, with further increases predicted for the
summer months.
Key Highlights October 2004
Australia 64,785 + 17.4%
USA 17,577 + 7.6%
UK 19,068 + 10.8%
Japan 12,201 + 0.7%
Germany 5,313 + 10.5%
China 6,867 + 14.4%
ENDS