Tourism New Zealand says it is “tantalizingly close” to reaching its target of 3.7 million international visitor arrivals by the end of June after doubling its arrivals growth rate compared to last year.
Speaking at TRENZ, Chief Executive René de Monchy said the past 12 months had delivered strong momentum for the sector, driven by a combined effort from the tourism industry, regional partners, and marketing campaigns.
“We’ve seen really strong tourism recovery over the last 12 months, and we are moving the needle collectively as an industry for people to discover New Zealand,” de Monchy said.
He added that March was particularly strong, with visitor arrivals rising 15% year over year, reinforcing confidence that the sector is on track for a full recovery by the end of the year, according to Statistics New Zealand Visitor Arrivals data.
The benefits of tourism growth are being felt nationwide.
“What’s really encouraging is that every region in New Zealand is seeing growth in international visitor spending,” de Monchy indicated. “That collective lift is important for operators, for regions, and for the wider economy.”
Despite concerns surrounding fuel prices and global instability, travel demand to New Zealand has remained resilient.
“Tourism New Zealand is monitoring the impacts of the situation. At the moment, booking patterns are positive overall, and we have increased winter and ski marketing activity in Australia and China to support demand,” de Monchy said.
Looking ahead, he said the next phase of tourism growth would depend not only on demand, but also on how effectively the destination adapts to changing traveler behavior and emerging technology.
“We need to harness the opportunity of AI and make sure our data is accurate, so New Zealand is discoverable to international visitors in this new world,” he said.
“How we make ourselves easy to find — and trusted by the tools people are using to dream, plan, and book — is going to be crucial to our future growth.”
De Monchy stressed that AI would complement, rather than replace, the tourism sector.
“It’s not a replacement for the tourism system by any means. It’s another channel or factor in the travel purchase journey.”
