Aussies, Malaysians giving tourism boost

Tourists numbers from Japan, Korea, Britain and the US are continuing to fall, but there are rising numbers coming to New Zealand from Australia and Malaysia.But a record number of Kiwis took overseas holidays in May, up 10 per cent on the same month last year.

Total visitor arrivals in May were 140,700, down only by 600 on the same month last year, despite the earthquakes in Canterbury and in Japan earlier this year, Statistics NZ figures show.Meanwhile, almost 182,000 Kiwis took short-term overseas trips in May, a record level for that month, with more trips to South-East Asia. The number was up 10 per cent on the same month last year.

More trips were taken to Australia, the Cook Islands, and South-East Asia including Malaysia, Thailand, and Singapore."The increase in trips to Malaysia and Singapore follows the launch of new flights to Kuala Lumpur and Singapore earlier this year," Population Statistics manager Andrea Blackburn said.

"The increase in trips to Thailand, while influenced by the new flights, was also a recovery after civil unrest in that country in May 2010."Visitor arrivals in May 2011 (140,700) were just below the 141,300 visitor arrivals in May 2010.

There were more visitors from Australia and twice as many visitors from Malaysia. The increase from Malaysia was also influenced by the launch of flights between Kuala Lumpur and Christchurch in April 2011, and additional Singapore-Auckland flights that started in March 2011.

Fewer visitors arrived from Japan, Korea, the United Kingdom, and the United States.Arrivals from Britain have dropped in most months since April 2007, while arrivals from Japan and Korea dropped noticeably after the February earthquake in Christchurch.

Source = stuff.co.nz