Tourism numbers up in August with Australians leading the charge

Stats NZ said there were significant increases in arrivals from Korea, Japan and Taiwan. Photo / Supplied

Overseas visitor arrivals were up slightly in August compared with a year ago, Stats NZ said today.

Australians arrived in the biggest numbers, up significantly from August 2023 and comprising a majority of all foreign visitors.

Visitor arrivals from China were also up compared with August 2023.

But the total number of overseas visitor arrivals in August was at 85% of the 251,100 recorded in August 2019, before the Covid pandemic.

For the year to August, overseas visitor arrivals numbered 3.23 million, an increase of 535,000 from the August 2023 year.

Year on year, the biggest changes were in arrivals from China, up from 156,000 to 244,000, and Australians, up 81,000 to 1.33m.

Stats NZ said there were also significant increases in arrivals from Korea, Japan and Taiwan.

Total August 2024 border crossings were 89% of the 1.1m in August 2019, before the pandemic.