The number of visitor arrivals from China was 50,900 in February 2019, down 18,100 from the February 2018 month, Stats NZ said today.
The decrease was largely due to fewer arrivals during the 2019 Chinese New Year.
The total number of visitor arrivals was 417,900 in February 2019, down 5,500 compared with the same month last year. The drop from China was offset by increases elsewhere. The next largest changes were:
- Korea, up 1,800
- United Kingdom, down 1,700
- Australia, up 1,200
- Taiwan, up 1,200.
Chinese New Year is a peak holiday season for travellers from China. The holiday began in early February this year. In 2018, it began in mid-February, and in 2017 it began in late January.
| Week ended | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 |
| 7 Jan | 4803 | 4173 | 2984 |
| 14 Jan | 7357 | 5668 | 5284 |
| 21 Jan | 14328 | 7490 | 8073 |
| 28 Jan | 20469 | 11645 | 13896 |
| 4 Feb | 16236 | 16121 | 19814 |
| 11 Feb | 9192 | 19721 | 21447 |
| 18 Feb | 7062 | 23194 | 11562 |
| 25 Feb | 6618 | 14343 | 6727 |
| 4 Mar | 4915 | 7233 | 4932 |
A record number of visitors arrived from China in the 2018 Chinese New Year.
"There were 68,900 visitor arrivals from China in February 2018, which was more than double the 33,700 seen in 2017," population insights senior manager Brooke Theyers said.
"Although February 2019's figures are down compared with last year, they are still up 17,100 from 2017."
| Year | January | February |
| 2017 | 54642 | 33728 |
| 2018 | 37343 | 68928 |
| 2019 | 43858 | 50861 |
The total number of visitor arrivals for the year ended February 2019 was 3.88 million, up 102,500 from the February 2018 year.
More resident travellers in February
There were 190,600 New Zealand-resident travellers who returned from overseas trips in February 2019. This was up 13,800 compared with February 2018. More New Zealand-resident travellers arrived back from Australia (78,700 up 4,800) compared with the same month last year. Other major changes were:
- China, up 5,300
- United States, down 1,700
- India, up 1,600.
Sydney most popular port
The most popular overseas port for New Zealand-resident travellers to fly back through in February 2019 was Sydney, which accounted for 36,200 resident travellers.
After Sydney, the most popular ports for New Zealand-resident travellers to fly back through were:
- Melbourne, with 29,400 resident travellers
- Brisbane, with 19,600
- Hong Kong, with 10,400.
The total number of New Zealand-resident traveller arrivals for the year ended February 2019 was 3.04 million, up 167,300 from the year ended February 2018.
