Easter boosts visitor arrivals in New Zealand
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Easter boosts visitor arrivals in New Zealand
Stats NZ has found that total overseas visitor arrivals were 307,400 in April 2019, up 23,500 when compared with the same month last year.
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Photo by Ömer Faruk Bekdemir on UnsplashQueenstown, New Zealand
The change in the timing of Easter boosted April 2019 arrivals, notably from Australia.
Both total and Australian visitor numbers were similar to 2017, when Easter also occurred in April. There were 130,800 visitor arrivals from Australia in April 2019, up 21,000 from April 2018. Other increases were:
- United Kingdom up 3,500
- Hong Kong, up 2,000
- United States, up 1,600.
For the year ended April 2019, there were 3.89 million visitor arrivals, up 99,400 from the year ended April 2018.
“Trans-Tasman travel was lifted by the timing of Easter this year, which fell in the school holidays and close to Anzac Day,” population indicators manager Tehseen Islam said.
“This made it an attractive option for many holidaymakers, but particularly those visiting family and friends.”
Of visitor arrivals, 87,500 were to visit family and friends in April 2019, up 11,700 from April 2018.
The timing of Easter definitely affected international travel patterns in March–April 2019 compared with 2018. There was no clear evidence that the Christchurch mosque attacks affected visitor arrivals.
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