Queenstown Tourism Market

Most indicators show New Zealand’s tourism industry has bounced back closer to 2019 levels than many analysts’ had predicted.

Monthly domestic tourism electronic card transactions reached $M931 in November, up 18% on the same month in 2019, with Otago (+30%) one of the highest. For the same period, international tourism spend was only down by 3%.

Total passenger movements through Queenstown airport for the six months ending December, were only marginally behind the 2019 peak of 1.258M at 1.225M. These figures were boosted by flight numbers from Australia for the winter 2022 season back to 2019 levels and the return of Virgin with daily flights from Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane from November.

On an international level, Emirates has announced that a A380 Airbus will resume Dubai-Christchurch flights from 26 March to compliment the Auckland service, which has been operating since late last year. America’s Delta Airline has started flying Auckland-Los Angeles, and many Chinese airlines are returning, including China Southern Airlines operating two flights a week between Guangzhou-Auckland, while Air New Zealand now also flies to Shanghai three times a week.

The New Zealand Government is assisting the industry with several initiatives, including a $M400 Recovery Package, $M200 Tourism Communities Plan and a $M54 Innovation plan. Half of the 36,000 working holiday visa recipients have arrived, helping to alleviate the tourism worker shortfall.

Queenstown visitor accommodation providers have reported strong business over the summer, although some are still constrained by worker shortages.

The most recent hotels statistics for the quarter ended December shows an Average Daily Rate of $286 compared to $265 for the same period in 2019.

Occupancies over the same period averages 64.3%, with 2019 at 85%.