International holiday arrivals for the month of March show a solid start to the autumn shoulder up 26.3 per cent on the same month last year, meaning an additional 38,000 visitors.
Total arrivals for the year are up 10.4 per cent and holiday arrivals up 15.3 per cent.
Tourism New Zealand Director of Trade, PR and Major Events René de Monchy says it is great to see these results given the organisation is focusing the majority of its effort into promoting shoulder season travel.
“For the first time since we refocused our marketing efforts we are able to compare spring and summer growth rates, and it’s encouraging to see spring (September – November) holiday arrivals of 17.1 per cent outstripping peak season holiday growth (December – February) of 15.1 per cent.
“Given this significant start to autumn, it’s a trend we expect to see continue through this season,” says Mr de Monchy.
Arrivals from the US have continued to grow with total arrivals for the year ending March up 11.8 per cent pushing past the quarter of a million milestone.
Mr de Monchy says: “With all our efforts focused on leveraging the increased flight capacity from the US, we expect to see this growth continue to accelerate particularly with American Airlines and United Airlines coming on stream in mid-2016.”
China has seen another month of growth with total arrivals up 27.8 per cent and holiday arrivals up 32.2 per cent for the year ending March.
“Our number one visitor market Australia has maintained steady growth with total arrivals for the year ending March up 7.2 per cent and holiday arrivals up 9.7 per cent.”
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 11.5 per cent year on year.
“This is supported by growth in holidays stay days for both markets, with Germany up 21.0 per cent and the UK up 6.7 per cent for the year ending March,” says Mr de Monchy.
“It has been a great summer for the industry and all signs are pointing to what we hope will be an outstanding autumn.”
