Chinese tourists to NZ rise to an annual record

Chinese holidaymakers increased 27 per cent to 225,680 in the year through April.

Chinese tourists visiting New Zealand rose to an annual record in April, helping push total visitor arrivals to a new high.

Visitor numbers from China rose 26 per cent to a record 302,128 in the year through April, Statistics New Zealand said in a statement. Total annual visitor arrivals increased 6.7 per cent to 2.96 million.

China is expected to overtake Australia as the biggest tourism market in expenditure terms within seven years, although Australia will likely to continue to be the largest source of tourists, according to forecasts published this week by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment.

The data published today showed Australian tourism numbers increased 3 per cent to 1.27 million in the year through April, more than four times the number of Chinese visitors. MBIE expects Australian tourism numbers to increase at a 3 per cent annual rate over the next seven years, compared with China's 11.6 per cent gain.

"China continues to see impressive growth," said Tourism New Zealand chief executive Kevin Bowler.

Most of the latest increase in Chinese visitors came from holidaymakers, the statistics agency said.

Chinese holidaymakers increased 27 per cent to 225,680 in the year through April, while the total number of visitors who came to New Zealand for a vacation rose 9.7 per cent to 1.44 million, the agency said.

Holidaymakers and those visiting friends and relatives are counted on as the biggest drivers of an expected 48 per cent growth of international tourist spending by 2021 to $1.11 billion, according to the MBIE forecasts released during New Zealand's annual Trenz tourism conference in Rotorua this week.

According to Chinese travel agencies at the Trenz conference, New Zealand has transformed itself from a drop-by place for Chinese tourists on their way to Australia into a destination worth repeated visits. Following that trend is a shift in Chinese tourist tastes from package tours to free independent travelling and more in-depth experience.

Tourism NZ said holiday arrivals had also increased visitors from New Zealand's other Asian target markets. In the year through April, holiday arrivals from Japan were up 19.5 per cent, Korea 19.5 per cent, Singapore 12 per cent, Malaysia 15.9 per cent and Thailand 17.6 per cent.

See the international travel and migration statistics here: