The number of Kiwis packing a suitcase for a holiday or business has recovered and is now above levels seen before the global economic downturn.New Zealand residents departed on 210,000 overseas trips in September 2010, up 9% from September 2009, Statisti
The number of Kiwis packing a suitcase for a holiday or business has recovered and is now above levels seen before the global economic downturn.
New Zealand residents departed on 210,000 overseas trips in September 2010, up 9% from September 2009, Statistics New Zealand said today.
Acting population statistics manager, Kimberly Cullen, said Kiwis took more trips to Australia, China, the United States, Samoa, and the United Kingdom, but fewer to Fiji.
“Resident departures reached a new high for a September month, surpassing the previous high of 208,500, which was recorded in September 2007 before the global economic downturn.”
While departures for business purposes increasing by 10% from the September 2009 year, made the biggest leap forward, a holiday is still the main purpose for travel for most New Zealanders. Almost 1.5m Kiwis left the country for a holiday or to visit friends and family last year compared to approximately 280,000 for work.
Last September saw the highest number of visitors ever recorded for a September month, despite visitor arrivals only increasing by 1% from September 2009.
While the main increases were from Korea, China, Japan, Taiwan and Australia, the number of visitors from the United Kingdom, United States, Ireland and South Africa continued to decrease in September 2010.
Australians last year accounted for 45% of all visitors. In the September 2010 year compared with the September 2009 year, the number of visitors from across the ditch increased by 7% to 1.122m.
