Jim Eagles: Asia is our main destination these days

If you want to be ahead of the pack in the travel-boasting stakes, you had better get to China fast. It is definitely the boom destination for New Zealanders heading abroad.

The latest travel figures from Statistics New Zealand show that we are increasingly looking outside the traditional destinations, such as Britain and the United States, to regions such as Asia.

Five years ago only 11,813 Kiwi travellers listed China as the main place they were going. But in the 12 months to the end of April, according to Statistics New Zealand, 49,059 of us headed behind the old bamboo curtain, an increase of 315 per cent.

The number of New Zealanders going to China is still relatively small - only 3 per cent of the total - but growing fast.

As an indication of the speed with which traffic is expanding, in April, the latest month for which figures are available, 4088 Kiwis said they were off to China, up from 2675 in April 2004, and 920 in April 2003.

Back in 2000 China was only 14th on the list of most popular destinations.

The top 10 then were: 1 Australia (644,831); 2 United States (77,442); 3 Britain (71,504); 4 Fiji (69,332); 5 Hong Kong (20,896); 6 Indonesia (17,510); 7 Taiwan (17,126); 8 Samoa (16,483); 9 South Korea (15,146); 10 Singapore (14,962).

These days China is in fifth place.

The top 10 now is: 1 Australia (909,304); 2 Fiji (103,238); 3 USA (84,667); 4 Britain (79,187); 5 China (49,059); 6 Cook Islands (34,544); 7 Thailand (22,869); 8 Hong Kong (19,549); 9 Japan (18,446); 10 India (17,878).

As that list indicates, Oceania (up 42 per cent in the past 10 years) and Asia (up 44 per cent) are the growth regions, at the expense of the traditional tourist magnets in Europe (up 27 per cent) and North America (up only 19 per cent).

The biggest growth outside China has been in what Statistics NZ classifies as "other" destinations (Africa, Middle East, South America, Antarctica) which, in 10 years, have jumped 142 per cent.

The numbers visiting these alternative destinations are still relatively small but the growth rate confirms that New Zealanders are becoming increasingly adventurous about where to visit.