Mastercard Economics Institute: Where Kiwis are heading next on holidays

The vibrant lights of Akihabara electric town in Tokyo, Japan. Photo / Getty Images

The Asia Pacific region is making a strong comeback for travel this year with Japan topping the trending list for all visitors and top for Kiwi travellers, according to a Mastercard report.

It shows travel is booming, with nine out of the last 10 record-setting spending days in the global cruise and airline industries occurring this year.

The Mastercard Economics Institute uses anonymous card spending and third-party data and forecasts this momentum will continue as consumers prioritise meaningful experiences and allocate more of their budgets to travel.

New Zealand travellers’ top 10 trending destinations for June to August include five Australian cities, plus Tokyo, Manila, Johannesburg, the Cook Islands, and New York.

Kiwis are joining millions of others flocking to Japan to take advantage of lower on-ground costs due to the weak yen.

“Japan’s favourable exchange rate is expected to help it remain the clear tourism front runner throughout 2024,“ the report says.

Mastercard’s chief economist for Asia Pacific, David Mann, said the popularity of New York was helped by non-stop air links, that are operated by Air New Zealand and Qantas.

“While everyone was locked down during Covid, there is a lot more of this desire to go to the places that they’ve always meant to go. And it’s such an iconic destination that in that way I can see why we’ve become more popular especially if the flights are better.“

Around the world there were still excess savings from the pandemic that meant “revenge travel” was still happening.

While the cost-of-living crunch and high interest rates were beginning to affect the mass market, affluent travellers were still spending up large on international travel, Mann said.

The continued strength of international travel was good news for New Zealand.

As ski season starts, there will be a significant increase in Australian travellers. China, New Zealand’s second biggest source of tourists pre-pandemic, was also coming back strongly with outbound travel 80 per cent of 2019 levels.

In the Asia Pacific, tourists are extending their trips by an average of 1.2 days to a total duration of 7.4 days, motivated by the affordability of destinations, warm weather, and favourable exchange rates.

In Australia and New Zealand, overseas visitors are staying for an average of 5.4 days, an increase of 0.6 days compared to 2019.

Grant Bradley has been working at the Herald since 1993. He is the Business Herald’s deputy editor and covers aviation and tourism