Kia ora Andrew
I trust you're all having an enjoyable week. The international arrivals data released by Stats NZ earlier this month shows that for the year to June 2025, New Zealand received a total of 3.4 million visitors, up 5% (162,150) on last year. Among our major markets, Australia and the UK are up 11% year-on-year, China is up more than 7%, but the USA is only up 1%.
Half of the arrivals were here for a holiday and the top five markets for holiday visitation were Australia, USA, China, UK and Germany -- with South Korea close behind.
It's good to see visitor arrivals continue to grow, but I acknowledge that it has been challenging in parts of New Zealand throughout the winter period. There's plenty of work ahead to reach our target of 3.7M arrivals by June 2026, and return to pre-Covid levels by the end of 2026, and I know we're all keen to get stuck in over the coming months.
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When it comes to industry, I enjoy connecting and talking in more depth about our work and hearing what is on people’s minds. Earlier this month I joined Lisa Hopkins from BEIA and Mark Quickfall from Totally Tourism on an industry leaders panel at the TECNZ conference. I reiterated that our sector has a strong foundation from which to deliver growth, and destination New Zealand has a strong brand with high consideration, appeal and preference. There are 155M people actively considering us as a holiday destination in our key markets across the world.
It’s our role to help convert this interest into booking a trip and arriving in New Zealand, and as I shared at the conference, there are a few ways we are doing this. We have support from the Government, with the Minister announcing three areas of additional funding for Tourism New Zealand above our baseline funding, as part of the Tourism Growth Roadmap. We’re also continuing to invest in work that connects New Zealand with international travel trade, such as the various Kiwi Link events, working with trade partners, and investing in famil programmes and trade shows.
At the TECNZ event I also announced the new TEC-TNZ growth partnership, which means TEC ITOs can apply to access a famil fund across FY26, targeting New Zealand’s key visitor markets in North America, UK/Europe and Asia, for both frontliner agents and product managers. The partnership means TNZ can provide targeted funding to support independently operated and funded famils, as we recognise the success of these events in equipping travel sellers with knowledge of New Zealand. More information is available on our website.
We also attended AHICE Aotearoa where I spoke with Hotel Council Aotearoa strategic director James Doolan about our arrivals drive and encouraged the hotel sector to participate in our activity. It was a productive discussion about how hotels can help drive success, and we talked about the importance of urban and food and beverage themes in our work too. Our audience consistently tells us that trying New Zealand food and beverage is a key interest area, so we'll keep finding new and exciting ways to showcase that in future.
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Something else that is often top of mind for me when it comes to our industry is sustainability, and it’s fantastic to see New Zealand featured in the Global Sustainable Tourism Council’s Travel Redefined series, examining how regenerative tourism supports people, the planet and prosperity.
New Zealand was invited to participate due to our reputation in sustainable tourism and business events, with our films showcasing tiakitanga (caring for people and place) and how we embody this concept in the operations and experiences within our industry. The series features Tourism New Zealand, alongside Qualmark Gold-accredited operators Kohutapu Lodge & Tribal Tours and Te Pae Christchurch Convention Centre.
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Next month we’re hosting three webinars for the tourism industry to share our FY26 market plans. Our team will provide market insights, an update on activity and partners in market, new initiatives, and opportunities for your involvement. You should have received an email with more details, and you can register through the following links: Eastern markets (China/Rest of Asia); US & UK/EU; Australia. There will be time for questions at the end of each session too, and webinars will be recorded and sent to those who have registered – so I recommend registering even if you can’t attend the webinar live.
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