Figures from Stats NZ show August business event delegate arrivals into Australia’s nearest neighbour were 8,212, up by 28.5 per cent on August 2025. These figures also put August 2026 substantially ahead of pre-pandemic delegate arrivals in August 2019 – with August 2026 levels an 24.6 per cent increase on August 2019.
For the year to August, the number of people travelling to New Zealand for a conference was 73,925 – up 25.7 per cent on the year to August 2025.
New Zealand’s business events body, Business Events Industry Aotearoa (BEIA), estimates that international business events delegates entering the country in August injected NZ$27 million into the economy.
“We’ve seen strong numbers of delegates travelling from China, Japan, Singapore and Korea in August this year,” said BEIA chief executive, Lisa Hopkins.
“The standout, though, was our friends from across the Tasman, with 4,874 Australians coming across the ditch to attend a business event.
“The positive effect these visitors bring is felt across the country, with regional economies benefitting – particularly our venues, hotels, hospitality, tourism and transport operators.
“New Zealand as a whole also benefits from the expertise, networks and knowledge delegates bring.
“This is a testament to the efforts of the Tourism [New Zealand] Business Events team, convention bureaux and partners from across the country, as well as the entire sector, which consistently demonstrates why New Zealand is an exceptional place to hold a business event.
“Looking ahead, we’re conservatively projecting around 70,000 domestic and international delegates will attend a business event between October and December this year.
“A significant number of international delegates is then expected in February 2027.”
