Overseas visitor arrivals down in February but US tourists break record

New Zealand across the year attracted more tourists from Australia, China, Britain, the US, Japan and Taiwan. Photo / Brett Phibbs

Overseas visitor arrivals were down in February compared with the same time last year.

Statistics NZ recorded 354,400 arrivals in the month, a decrease of 8400 from February 2024, which had one extra day with the leap year and a later start to the Chinese New Year.

But there were substantial increases this year in visitors from the United States, Australia and Britain.

“There were 63,700 overseas visitor arrivals from the United States in February 2025, which is a record for any month from that country,” Stats NZ said today.

Visitor numbers from several major Asian markets, especially China, were down compared with February 2024.

Chinese tourist numbers were down by 18,400 from the same time last year, and Stats NZ attributed that to the timing of the Chinese New Year.

This year, the Chinese New Year began on January 29 but last year it started on February 10.

“Monthly arrivals from China typically peak in January or February each year, depending on the timing of the Chinese New Year,” Stats NZ added.

The total number of overseas visitor arrivals in February this year was 85% of the number recorded in February 2019, before the Covid pandemic.

Of the 354,400 overseas visitor arrivals in February this year, 33% were from Australia and 18% were from the US.

Across the year to the end of February, overall visitor numbers were up to 3.35 million, an increase of 240,000 from the prior year.

New Zealand across the year attracted more tourists from Australia, China, Britain, the US, Japan and Taiwan.

The US was the second-largest source of overseas visitor arrivals in the year, after Australia.

Flight Centre: Strong US-NZ appetite

Tariff turmoil and political upheaval in the US have not affected the desire of New Zealanders to visit the US, a major travel agency said today.

Victoria Courtney, Flight Centre Travel Group NZ managing director, said that despite global economic uncertainty New Zealand was still seen as an attractive long-haul destination.

“We’ve long said that for airlines to consider adding or expanding services to New Zealand, they need to see sustainable demand in both directions.”

Courtney said it was encouraging to see the three biggest destinations of Australia, Britain and the US were also key sources of inbound tourism to New Zealand.

“That healthy two-way flow is vital for maintaining airline capacity and supporting the wider travel ecosystem.”

Courtney said Kiwis were resilient travellers, and the US was Flight Centre’s third most-booked country for international travel for both March and April so far.

“This shows despite economic uncertainty, the appetite for travel hasn’t declined.”

Courtney said that in the months ahead Flight Centre expected to see more international visitors pursuing New Zealand’s winter adventures.

Kiwis would start planning Northern Hemisphere mid-year summer breaks, she said.

Economists: US demand may fizzle

Infometrics economists today said tourism arrivals were up 7.8% in the three summer months, compared with a year before.

Infometrics said that despite the slight slowdown in overall February arrival numbers, Queenstown and Christchurch Airports both recorded year-on-year increases in arrivals, up 3.5% and 1.3% respectively.

The strong US arrival numbers were partly attributed to a weak New Zealand dollar.

“Although the US is our second-largest tourism market behind Australia, recent strength may not persist given economic instability in the world’s largest economy.”

The current trade war made the outlook for tourism arrival numbers uncertain, Infometrics said.

The economists said global growth expectations for 2025 and 2026 were expected to be slower than historical levels at around 2.5% a year.

However, escalating trade protectionism may lead to slower growth in New Zealand’s key tourism markets, meaning lower future arrival numbers, Infometrics added.

Westpac senior economist Michael Gordon said that relative to the year before Covid, US visitor numbers were running more than 20% higher.

Gordon said other key sources such as Australia, Japan and Britain had not yet fully recovered but were gaining momentum.

Ad spending boost gets going

This afternoon, Tourism and Hospitality Minister Louise Upston announced a $13.5 advertising boost aimed at enticing visitors from China, Australia, the US, India, Germany and South Korea.

Upston said the campaign would generate an estimated 23,000 or more additional international visitors and an extra $100m in spending.

“We have encouraging signs coming through from our ‘Everyone Must Go!’ campaign focused on Australia, but we won’t stop there,” the minister said.

The campaign Upston referred to was launched in February.

Labour Party tourism spokeswoman Cushla Tangaere-Manuel at the time said the new campaign slogan sounded like a clearance sale.

Hospitality New Zealand today welcomed the $13.5m investment.

“Attracting more international visitors will mean more people experiencing Kiwi hospitality, which is especially important during the traditionally quieter off-peak periods,” Hospitality NZ chief executive Steve Armitage said.

Airports say more attention needed

The New Zealand Airports Association said it welcomed the international marketing boost and there should be a discussion about “gnarlier” issues holding tourism back.

“To fully realise the benefits of increased demand, we must also address structural constraints we are experiencing on the supply side of the aviation sector,” said the association’s chief executive, Billie Moore.

Moore said the domestic aviation market was operating at only 86% of pre-pandemic capacity.

“Without enough seats, we risk bottlenecks that limit tourism’s economic potential and leave parts of the country underserved.”