For the year ending in September, the number of travelers entering and leaving New Zealand exceeded nine million for the first time, according to Statistics New Zealand. The report said more than 4.95 million arrivals from overseas visitors, 3.9 million short term trips by New Zealand residents and about 158 thousand permanent and long term migrant movements. For the year ending in September 2007, there were 2.475 million visitor arrivals, up 4 percent from the previous year, with an increase in visitors from Australia, China and the United Kingdom, but fewer visitors from Japan and the United States. For the month of September 2007, Statistics New Zealand reported 168,800 visitor arrivals, an increase of 2,300 from September a year ago. The number of visitors from Australia increased 3 percent to 2,100 and the number from Korea dropped 20 percent or 1,700.
October 18, 2007 8:54 PM