New Zealand Visitor Arrivals for March 2009

New Zealand visitor arrivals fell by 9.7% in March 2009. The figures were affected by Easter which fell in March last year, but moved to April this year.

The flow-on from the global economic downturn can also be seen in arrivals figures from many major markets, including those from the UK and USA - New Zealand’s second and third-largest visitor markets.

"Arrivals from long-haul markets are down about 10%overall in March, but that is in line with our expectations. Tourism New Zealand’s focus is now shifting to how we can stimulate demand for next summer’s critical booking period," Tourism New Zealand chief executive George Hickton said.

Arrivals from New Zealand’s biggest visitor market, Australia, were down 4.6% for March.

"Though arrivals for Australia were down last month we were almost 3000 visitors up on the same month in 2007, which is a better comparison because it removes the effect of Easter," Mr Hickton said.

New Zealand's International Visitor Arrivals for March 2009:

• Australia 88,080 down 4.6%
• UK 27,288 down 25.6%
• USA 20,352 down 20%
• Canada 5,520 down 13.8%
• China 11,640 up 9.3%
• Korea 5,472 down 18.9%
• Japan 10,512 down 11.8%

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