The international tourism market accelerated strongly in August 2023, with a range of metrics exceeding or approaching pre-COVID levels. New Zealand’s co-hosting of the FIFA Women’s World Cup provided a boost to visitor arrivals.
By comparison, the domestic tourism market was relatively subdued compared to August 2022, possibly due to a greater propensity for Kiwis to travel overseas and a tightening in discretionary spending. However, domestic guest nights and visitor volume in August 2023 were still well above levels seen in August 2019, prior to the pandemic.
Nationwide, core tourism accommodation providers hosted 2.6 million guest nights in August 2023, up 12 percent from August 2022 and on par with August 2019 levels. Domestic guest nights remain higher than pre-COVID levels but have decreased since August 2022. Domestic guest nights totalled 1.8 million (70 percent of the total guest nights) in August 2023. These were down two percent from the same month in 2022 but up 10 percent from August 2019 levels. International guest nights in August 2023 reached 80 percent of pre-pandemic levels and were up 74 percent from August 2022.
For domestic guest nights, Fiordland (up 131 percent) and Timaru (up 97 percent) showed the strongest proportional growth, while Ruapehu showed the strongest proportional fall (down 32 percent). For international guest nights, Wairarapa showed the strongest proportional increase (up 55 percent), while Northland showed the strongest proportional decrease (down 64 percent).
Queenstown (74 percent) and Auckland (67 percent) RTOs recorded the highest occupancy rates, well above the national average (48 percent) in August 2023. Of all property types, motels and apartments with more than 20 units, and hotels had the highest occupancy rate (68 percent) in August 2023.
Nationwide, estimated unique domestic visitors totalled two million in August 2023, down 10 percent from August 2022 but up 10 percent from August 2019 levels. Compared with August 2019, Tairawhiti (up 82 percent) and Mackenzie (up 58 percent) showed the strongest proportional increases in domestic visitor volume.
Nationwide, estimated unique international visitors totalled 376,000 in August 2023, up 94 percent from August 2022. The gap between current and pre-COVID levels of international visitors has narrowed since June 2023. The August 2023 international visitor volume is now 97 percent of August 2019 levels. Compared with August 2019, Tairawhiti showed the strongest proportional increase (up 13 percent) in international visitors, while Coromandel (down 57 percent) and Fiordland (down 46 percent) showed the largest proportional decreases.
