Chinese New Year bigger and better than ever before

Monday 21 March 2016

Chinese New Year bigger and better than ever before

This year’s Chinese New Year has resulted in a record number of Chinese visitor arrivals, up 15.2 per cent on the same holiday period last year - making it New Zealand’s biggest Chinese New Year to date.

Tourism New Zealand Chief Executive Kevin Bowler says the organisation is delighted with the result.

“When we compare the two weeks either side of the actual New Year’s day, which fell on 8 February this year, we welcomed 51,200 Chinese visitors – that’s 6,770 more than we did in 2015 – setting another new record for China.

“This year’s Chinese New Year really was bigger and better than ever before.”

This positive growth was reflected in overall arrivals, with total arrivals up 10.1 per cent and holiday arrivals up 14.3 per cent for the year ending February 2016. Total visitor arrivals reached a record 3.2 million for the first time.

Arrival figures for the UK and Germany have also shown solid growth, with holiday arrivals for Germany up 15.3 per cent and the UK up 12.8 per cent year on year.

“It is fantastic to see such strong holiday growth from these mature visitor markets – that stay longer and visit more regions while they are here.

“This is supported by growth in stay days for both markets, with Germany up 21.1 per cent and the UK up 7.1 per cent for the year ending February,” says Kevin.

The US market is also showing growth, with total arrivals up 9.4 per cent while holiday arrivals are also continuing to show strong growth – up 10.5 per cent for the same period.

Tourism New Zealand’s prioritised emerging markets of Indonesia, India and Brazil continued to grow, with total arrivals up 6.7 per cent, 18.8 per cent and 6.2 per cent respectively for the year ending February.

ENDS

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