September Arrivals Show Positive Signs for Summer

For Immediate Release

21 October 2009

September Arrivals Show Positive Signs for Summer

Early signs of recovery are being seen for the New Zealand tourism industry, with a growth in September arrivals figures.

Statistics New Zealand figures released today showed that total arrivals for September increased 9.3 per cent on the same month last year; an additional 14,700 international visitors.

Tourism New Zealand Chief Executive George Hickton said the figures signalled a recovery in arrivals after the impact of the economic downturn and Influenza A (H1N1), which hit arrivals from Asia particularly hard earlier in the year.

“Today’s figures show our top five markets are all showing significant improvement on last month, which is great news for the industry heading into the crucial summer season,” Mr Hickton said.

“The US and China are recovering, Japan and the UK appear to have stabilised and Australia is still showing strong growth with holiday arrivals up 25 per cent in September; so Australia continues to be the foundation for our recovery,” Mr Hickton added.

Tourism New Zealand’s ‘Which New Zealand Are You This Time’ campaign was launched in Australia in August and will continue to run till November. Campaigns are also running in the UK and Europe ahead of the peak booking season, and in China. More competitive airfares and an improvement in confidence are helping stimulate US outbound travel.

Mr Hickton added that later booking trends among travellers were making it hard to predict summer results.

“Early indications are that summer is going to start slowly but pick up and we are certainly pleased to see some recovery in markets like the US and China, which are major contributors to New Zealand’s long-haul arrivals,” Mr Hickton said.
 

International Visitor Arrivals September 2009:

Australia                           94,962          up 15.4%
UK                               10,542           down 0.4%
USA                                 10,038           up 9.9%
China                               6,342            up 15.4 %
Japan                               6,258            down 3.5%
Germany                         3,255            up 4.8%
South Korea                      3,045            down 33.5%
Canada                             2,058            down 3.8 %     

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