February visitor numbers little changed from year ago

Wednesday 13th April 2011

The number of overseas visitors arriving for short term stays edged up around 400 in February from a year earlier to 268,300, Statistics New Zealand (SNZ) figures show.

Visitor numbers from Australia were up 2300 from a year earlier to 93,600, and those from China lifted 1000 to 18,000, but visitors from Britain were down 4100 to 35,350 and numbers from Taiwan fell 1500 to 2100.

For the year, short term visitor arrivals rose 2% to 2.53 million, with the number of visitors from China up 26,500 from a year earlier, those from Australia up 24,500, Korea up 13,000, Japan up 9400 and Indian visitor numbers up 4300.

Visitor numbers from Britain were 29,500 lower in the 12 months to February, while numbers from the United States were down 7900 and those from Ireland fell 3300.

The number of New Zealand residents leaving on short term overseas trips in February was down 500 from a year earlier to 103,500.

That included 1400 fewer trips to China, partly due to an earlier Chinese New Year, with departures to China to visit friends and relatives having been up in January.

For the year to February, the number of departures by New Zealand residents was up 6% from a year earlier to 2.04m.

NZPA

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