The figure is a 9.2 per cent increase on the year to March 2024.
“Tourism is our second highest export earner and today’s results show just how important the sector is to unleashing economic growth in New Zealand,” said New Zealand’s tourism and hospitality minister Louise Upston when the data was released yesterday.
The Increase to visitor spend is outpacing growth in visitor arrivals, with international visitor numbers over the year to March rising by 4.3 per cent compared to 2024.
International arrivals were 3.32 million in the year to March, putting New Zealand’s recovery in terms of visitor volume at around 86 per cent of pre-pandemic arrivals.
When adjusted for inflation, the New Zealand Government puts the current level of spending at $9.7 billion or 86 per cent of pre-COVID spending.
“The growth in visitor numbers and spending is very encouraging but there is still more work to do to ensure tourism and hospitality can really thrive,” said Upston.
“New Zealand is open for business, and we look forward to welcoming more visitors to our beautiful country.”
Australia continued to be the largest source of international arrivals to New Zealand in the year to March, making up a 42 per cent share of all arrivals, followed by the USA with an 11 per cent share, China with a seven per cent share, the United Kingdom with two per cent, then India rounding out the top five, also with a two per cent share.
India was the only country in the top five visitor markets that posted a drop in annual visitor numbers when comparing the year to March 2025 with the year to March 2024, with a near seven per cent decline in arrivals from India.
The largest growth in arrivals came from China, with Chinese visitors up nearly 18 per cent, while Australia was the second largest source of visitor growth, with Australian visitors up 8.5 per cent.
In terms of spend, Germany had the highest median spend per visitor as well as the highest median stay length at 28 days. Australia, unsurprisingly, was at the bottom of both these metrics, with the shortest stay length and the smallest spend.
Visitors from the US had the highest median daily spend per visitor at $NZ371.80, with China not far behind on NZ$367.90.
