Over 408,000 international travellers visited New Zealand in February, up by more than 53,000 on February 2025.
In the year to February 2026, overseas arrivals hit 3.58 million, up 229,000 on the year before and representing 92 per cent of pre-pandemic levels.
“International tourism contributes to our government’s plan to fix the basics and build the future and support economic growth, with businesses, jobs and communities across the country feeling the benefits of increasing visitor numbers,” said New Zealand’s tourism and hospitality minister, Louise Upston.
“It’s great to see continued growth from our largest visitor market, Australia, with 1.54 million arrivals in the year to February, up 123,000 from the year before.
“Changes that allow eligible visitors from China and the Pacific to travel to New Zealand from Australia with a New Zealand Electronic Travel Authority (NZeTA), rather than a visa, are also making a difference.
“Chinese visitor arrivals were up 41,700 (increase of 214 per cent) in February 2026 compared with the same month in 2025, as more Chinese visitors chose to take advantage of the NZeTA and experience New Zealand’s unique scenery and hospitality over Chinese New Year,” said Upston.
Meanwhile business events numbers in New Zealand, which had been decreasing for a couple of years, have turned a corner, posting two consecutive quarters of rising numbers of events.
According to figures from the Business Events Data Programme, the number of business events held in New Zealand rose by six per cent in the March quarter, compared to the same period in 2025, off the back of a three per cent rise in the December quarter.
The number of delegates has also risen over the past two quarters, up six per cent in the December quarter and 10 per cent in the March quarter, after eight straight quarters of decline.
However, the number of delegate days is still in slight decline, with delegate days down two per cent compared to the March quarter last year. This represents the smallest decline since the March quarter in 2024, so if the current trend continues, delegate days could start to see a long-awaited uplift in the coming quarters.
