Fewer international travellers in June

Short-term overseas visitor arrivals (135,200), and short-term departures of New Zealand-resident travellers(176,300), were both lower in June 2009 compared with June 2008, Statistics New Zealand saidtoday.

Visitor arrivals were down 7,300 (5 percent) from 142,400 in June 2008. There were more visitorarrivals from Australia (up 6,000), but fewer visitor arrivals from Japan (down 4,700), Korea (down 2,900),and China (down 2,500).

The 2.411 million visitor arrivals recorded during the June 2009 year were down 68,400 (3 percent) fromthe June 2008 year.New Zealand residents departing on short-term overseas trips in June 2009 were down 9,700 (5 percent)from the 186,000 departures in June 2008.

There were fewer trips to Australia (down 5,400), the UnitedKingdom (down 1,900), and Fiji (down 1,100). For the June 2009 year, short-term departures of NewZealand residents numbered 1.920 million, down 57,500 (3 percent) from the June 2008 year.

Permanent and long-term (PLT) departures decreased by 1,900 in June 2009, including 1,600 fewerdepartures to Australia and 400 fewer to the United Kingdom. PLT arrivals decreased by 600 comparedwith June 2008.

On a seasonally adjusted basis, PLT arrivals exceeded PLT departures by 1,700 in June 2009, down from2,600 in May 2009 and 2,100 in April 2009, and the same as in March 2009.

New Zealand's annual net PLT migration balance was a gain of 12,500 in the June 2009 year, up from4,700 in the June 2008 year.

The net PLT outflow to Australia was 28,700 in the June 2009 year, down fromthe record net outflows of 35,400 in both the December 2008 and January 2009 years. PLT arrivals of NewZealand citizens numbered 24,800 in the June 2009 year, just above the average of 23,400 for the1979–2008 December years.

Arrivals of New Zealand citizens tend to show little variation year-to-year.

Geoff Bascand
Government Statistician
21 July 2009
END
See also the Hot Off The Press information release International Travel and Migration: June 2009