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For the first month since the pandemic hit, overseas visitor arrivals exceeded 100,000 in July and the tourism industry will be further boosted by relaxation of Covid restrictions.
But an industry group says the changes have come too late for some bookings.
Stats NZ figures show there were 134,200 overseas visitor arrivals in July this year.
This afternoon the Government announced the removal of all vaccination requirements for incoming travellers and air crew. The requirement to Rat test on day one and five/six has been dropped and now will just be encouraged.
While there has been a recovery, the July number was just over half of the 255,600 overseas visitor arrivals in the same month in 2019.
Stats NZ says overseas visitor arrivals numbers had steadily increased since March 2022, as New Zealand's border restrictions were progressively relaxed.
About three in every four overseas visitor arrivals in July 2022 were from Australia (94,200), continuing the pattern of recent months.
"The increase in overseas visitor arrivals in July was driven by Australian visitors and coincided with the Australian school holidays," population indicators manager Tehseen Islam said.
Skiers and snowboarders on Coronet Peak - the field is popular with Australians. Photo / Chris Hoopman/NZSKI
"Australian school holidays varied by state but spanned late June to late July."
The number of overseas visitor arrivals from Australia was running strong.
In spite of constraints on transtasman airline capacity in July 2022 they were at three-quarters of the level in July 2019, before the Covid-19 pandemic.
The percentage of those coming here on holiday was the same as pre-pandemic. A holiday was the main purpose for travel given by 40,300 (45 per cent) of the Australian visitors in July this year, compared with 55,500 (45 per cent) in July 2019.
In July 2022 almost half (45,000) of visitors from Australia arrived at Auckland airport, with just under one-third (29,400) arriving in Queenstown.
Visitors from Australia typically made up a large share of overseas visitor arrivals to Queenstown, particularly in winter during the ski season.
In July 2022, 96 per cent were visitors from Australia, higher than the 87 per cent in July 2019.
Eyes on traffic light decision
Overseas visitor arrivals were 414,000 in the July 2022 year, up 201,000 from the July 2021 year. The biggest changes were in arrivals from:
• Australia (up 109,000) • United States (up 15,000) • United Kingdom (up 11,000) • Singapore (up 6000).
New Zealand's rules for visitors have been more stringent than most other countries.
Travellers to New Zealand, including Kiwis, now had to fill in a detailed form online before arrival.
That has caused problems for those who struggle with technology.
Around the world, many countries that relied heavily on tourism have ditched health declarations and pre-departure or arrival testing.
Last week Fiji announced it was dropping arrival tests. The Tourism Export Council said this country risked being left behind by its strict rules.
Council chief executive Lynda Keene said interest for visitors booked in the inbound system for 2022-23 are higher than expected to around more along 60 per cent to 80 per cent of pre-Covid arrival numbers.
However, operators were seeing a higher than normal cancellation rate (20 per cent to 30 per cent instead of 10 per cent) because NZ was still perceived as being closed with travel restrictions.
While this had changed today it was too late for prospective visitors to change their plans.
''They began asking their offshore travel agents to switch their NZ holiday to Australia and the Mediterranean a few weeks ago.''
The Stats NZ figures show many Kiwis were visiting Australia.
In July 165,000 New Zealand residents returned from a short-term (less than 12 months) trip overseas.
That was an increase of 60,000 on the month before and coincided with New Zealand school holidays in July.
The most popular destination in July 2022 was Australia, accounting for 42 per cent of New Zealand resident arrivals, followed by Fiji (14 per cent), Cook Islands (8 per cent), the United Kingdom (7 per cent), and the United States (6 per cent).
