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Statistics New Zealand have released their findings on International Travel Trends: October 2023, and it shows international travel to New Zealand showed significant recovery from COVID-19 impacts, with 226,000 overseas visitors, 80 per cent of pre-pandemic levels.
In this release, international travel accounts for the number and features of overseas visitors and New Zealand resident travellers (short-term travellers) entering or leaving New Zealand.
Monthly Arrivals- Overseas Visitors & New Zealand Resident Travellers.
China, Australia, America, India, and Korea showed key increases and New Zealand-resident travellers numbers rose to 311,400, nearing pre-COVID figures. Annual visitor arrivals reached 2.83 million, largely by travellers from Australia, America, the U.K., China, and India.
Border Crossings:
In October, this also reflected a strong rebound, and shows this is due to the return of seasonally adjusted travel data showing a return to pre-pandemic patterns.
Digital Arrival Cards:
Introduced mid-July 2023, travellers entering New Zealand now have the option to use a new digital arrival card, the New Zealand Traveller Declaration (NZTD), in addition to the traditional paper arrival card. Initially, Christchurch and Wellington airports adopted the NZTD, with Queenstown airport joining in late July 2023, and Auckland airport following in late August 2023.
As of July 2023, an increasing number of travellers began using the digital NZTD, though paper responses remained predominant. By October 2023, approximately 20% of arriving travellers were completing the NZTD digitally.
The introduction of the NZTD has not affected the scope of statistical data available for international travel and migration analysis.
The Impact of COVID-19.
On international travel, starting in January 2020, many countries, including New Zealand, changed international travel restrictions to control the spread of COVID-19. However, beginning in early 2022, some countries, including New Zealand, started easing these restrictions, leading to an increase in cross-border travel. From August 1, 2022, New Zealand reopened its borders to all visitors and international students.
