Chinese visitor surge buoys New Zealand tourism sector

The number of overseas visitors to New Zealand last month was down by 1 percent from July last year despite a surge in the number of Chinese tourists, the government statistics agency announced Tuesday.

Just 173,500 overseas visitors came to New Zealand in July, the lowest figure for a July month since 2007, according to Statistics New Zealand.

"Although there were fewer visitors overall, arrivals from China rose 25 percent compared with July 2011," population statistics manager Andrea Blackburn said in a statement.

"Also, the number of visitors from Japan returned close to the level of 2010, after being affected by earthquakes in 2011."

Fewer visitors arrived from Malaysia, the Republic of Korea, and the United Kingdom compared with July 2011.

In the year to the end of July, 2.63 million visitors arrived in New Zealand, up 6 percent from the July 2011 year.

That figure was boosted by the Rugby World Cup, hosted by New Zealand in September and October last year, while 2011 was affected by the Christchurch earthquake in February and disruption to air travel in June because of ash from Chile's Puyehue-Cordon Caulle volcano.

Tourism New Zealand chief executive Kevin Bowler said the figures for the year ending July showed the industry's resilience.

The government agency would continue to focus on growing total visitor stay days, which rose by 1.2 percent to more than 50.6 million over the last year.

Traditional long-haul markets continued to be a challenge with total arrivals from the United States down 2.3 percent, and the UK down 2.8 percent for the year, Bowler said in a statement.

Research conducted by Tourism New Zealand in Germany showed concern about the eurozone economic crisis was impacting on preference for a holiday in New Zealand.

"The research shows that as a result of the current uncertainty, many international travelers are looking for less expensive holidays and options that are closer to home, weakening demand for long-haul holidays to destination such as New Zealand," said Bowler.