New Zealand Visitor Arrivals in June 2009

New Zealand’s visitor arrivals in June 2009 show that numbers from South Korea, Japan and China have been seriously impacted by concerns over Swine Flu (H1N1) and the continued economic downturn. Swine Flu was was first detected in New Zealand in late April.

"Experience with past shocks, like SARs and September 11, meant we knew that arrivals from our Asian markets would likely be badly hit by the Swine Flu outbreak," said Tourism New Zealand chief executive George Hickton. "Fortunately, our offshore offices are picking up some more positive signals for later this year; we are hoping China will star to improve from September, and the outlook for Japan is also looking slightly better for the first time in many months."

While the Asian arrivals to New Zealand were weak in June, the strength of the Australian market helped the industry to hold its ground.

Tourism New Zealand has been working on keeping New Zealand in the spotlight in Australia. An early-bird ski campaign, great snow and good travel offers has resulted in a bumper ski season for operators.

New Zealand’s International Visitor Arrivals in June 2009

• Australia up 9.2%
• UK down 11.5%
• USA down 2.1%
• Canada up 13%
• China down 49.4%
• South Korea down 48.5%
• Japan down 66.7%

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