Record number of travellers due

By SIMON HENDERY

A record number of visitors arrived in the country last month, signalling that the tourism industry remains on track for its busiest peak season this summer.

Statistics New Zealand said yesterday 212,000 short-term visitors arrived in the country in November, 6.6 per cent more than during the same month last year.

It was the first time November arrivals have topped 200,000.

"This is a good indicator of what the summer may hold," Tourism New Zealand Chief Executive George Hickton said.

While the industry was rattled earlier in the year by the Iraq war and then the Sars virus, Hickton said given reports coming in from the agency's overseas offices he was confident a record number of tourists would visit this summer.

Total arrivals for the 12 months to the end of November were 2.07 million, up 2.8 per cent on the previous year. Seven of the 10 largest markets recorded growth for the year with the other three - Japan, China and Singapore - all suffering from continued post-Sars travel phobia.

Hickton said the Japanese market - our fourth largest source of tourists behind Australia, Britain and the US - was expected to pick up early in the new year.