The Lions tour boosted visitor numbers from the United Kingdom and Ireland with typically, New Zealand having between 6,000 and 7,000 visitors from Ireland and the UK each June, but this ballooned to about 23,400 last year.

In June 2018 compared with June 2017, the largest drops in visitor arrivals were from:

• United Kingdom, down 15,700 to 5,900
• Australia, down 7,100 to 98,800
• Ireland, down 1,200 to 600.

Importantly, the total number of visitors in June 2018 is still higher than the 196,200 visitors two years ago and annually, visitor numbers continue to increase.

There were 3.79 million arrivals for the year ended June 2018, up 138,700 (3.8 percent) from the year ended June 2017.

Boost in visitors from Asia

A boost of 12 percent in visitor arrivals from Asia helped offset the fall in arrivals from other countries.

Compared with June last year, Asia was the only region to see a rise in visitor arrivals to New Zealand this month. The largest increases in visitor arrivals from Asia were:

• Indonesia, up 1,900 (37 percent)
• China, up 1,200 (7 percent)
• Malaysia, up 800 (24 percent).

Kiwis take more overseas holidays

Asia also experienced strong growth as a tourist destination for New Zealanders, along with Fiji and Australia. For June 2018 compared with June 2017, the largest increases in departures for overseas holidays were to:

• Fiji, up 5,900 (34 percent)
• Australia, up 2,500 (3 percent)
• China, up 2,500 (26 percent)
• Indonesia, up 2,300 (39 percent).

Overall, 288,500 Kiwis travelled overseas in June 2018, with 100,600 visiting Australia. Other popular destinations were (by number of departures):

• Fiji, 23,200
• United States, 21,900
• United Kingdom, 17,700.

See also:

New Zealand’s first Hotel Indigo opening in Auckland

New Zealand domestic and international guest nights statistics sees annual growth

New Zealand's tourism boom waiting for new hotels Dean Humphries Colliers International