Overseas visitor numbers bring relief for New Zealand's under-fire tourism agency

WELLINGTON, July 20 (Xinhua) -- The number of overseas visitors to New Zealand in June was up by 15 percent from June last year to 151,000, the government statistics agency announced Friday.

The figure, which was 4 percent higher than June 2010, was the highest for a June month in seven years, according to Statistics New Zealand.

"The number of visitors arriving in June last year was affected by flight cancellations due to the ash cloud from Chile's Puyehue- Cordon Caulle volcano," population statistics manager Andrea Blackburn said in a statement, referring to the plume which spread across the southern hemisphere, grounding flights in and out of New Zealand.

"The 2012 figure is the second-highest for a June month, after 2005 when the British Lions' rugby tour boosted visitor numbers."

More visitors arrived from Australia (up 15,900) and China (up 3,000) in June this year compared with June 2011, but fewer arrived from Malaysia (down 1,300).

The increase from Australia reversed June 2011's fall of 11,400 compared with June 2010, which was caused by ash cloud flight disruptions.

In the June 2012 year, almost 2.64 million visitors arrived in New Zealand, up 5 percent from the June 2011 year.

The largest increases were in visitors from Australia, China, France, and Malaysia. The largest decrease was in visitors from Japan.

Kevin Bowler, chief executive of government tourism agency Tourism New Zealand, said that while the volcanic ash plume was to blame for last year's low figures, this year's figures also indicated a strong and early start to this year's ski season.

"Looking specifically at Australian arrivals, we see that they accounted for a staggering 48 percent of total holiday arrivals in June," he said in a statement.

"This clearly shows the importance of this market to New Zealand during what would otherwise be a low-season for the industry."

International arrivals had generated a total of 50.9 million stay-days in New Zealand, an increase of 1.4 percent for the year ending June.

"This month's arrival and stay-day figures clearly show that New Zealand is performing well despite the combination of natural and economic challenges we've been battling over the past few years.

"In order to maintain these figures, it is important we see continued investment in long haul air capacity from existing and new airlines."

Tourism New Zealand has been on the defensive this week after executives at the national carrier said the industry the country's second biggest foreign exchange earner after the dairy industry needed to be reinvigorated.

While tourist arrivals have been increasing, the visitors are spending less and staying fewer nights in the country.

Air New Zealand outgoing chief executive Rob Fyfe and chairman John Palmer told a Parliament select committee Wednesday that progress in tourism not as good as it needed to be.

Sourced: Xinhuanet