Visitor numbers jump in March

By Phil Boeyen, ShareChat Business News Editor

Friday 19th April 2002

An early Easter may have contributed to a 14% increase in the number of short-term visitors to New Zealand in March.

Statistics New Zealand reports that 202,500 people visited the country on a short-term basis last month, an increase of 25,600 on the same month last year. It was also the first time that March visitors topped 200,000.

"Part of this increase may be due to the Easter holidays, which started at the end of March in 2002, but which fell in the middle of April in 2001," Statistics NZ says.

Visitors from the UK made the largest contribution to the increase, up 9,000 on a year ago, followed by Australia, the US, Japan, China and Korea.

The growth in annual short-term visitor numbers remains steady at 6% for the 12 months ended March, the same as the previous month.

On an annual basis the growth is led by Australia with 41,100 more visitors from across the Tasman, followed by Korea, China and the UK.

Seasonally adjusted visitor arrivals increased by 13% between February and March following a 1% drop from January to February 2002.

New Zealand residents left for 101,200 short-term overseas trips in March, an increase of 12% on the same month last year. Statistics NZ says this may also be due, in part, to the Easter holidays.

The number of people arriving in New Zealand either permanently or long-term continues to exceed those leaving the country.

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