International Visitor Survey data release materials

On this page, we provide a link to the new data visualisations for the June 2024 quarter (Q2) and year ending June 2024. Summaries of previous releases are also provided.

2024 Quarter 2 release

Data visualisations for the year ending June 2024, the June quarter 2024, and for previous quarters, can be found on the Tourism Evidence and Insights Centre (TEIC). Commentary on high level results and a printable PDF containing top-line results are also available here.  

International Visitor Survey (IVS)(external link) — TEIC

The September 2024 release contains the following charts for the year ending June 2024 (July 2023 to June 2024). 

  • Total spend
  • Spend by product category e.g accommodation, entertainment
  • Length of stay
  • Median total and daily spend per visitor
  • Mean total and daily spend per visitor
  • Māori cultural experiences
  • Visitor satisfaction
  • Accommodation use
  • Itinerary (overnight stays)
  • Perception of the environment
  • Transport mode used

High-level results are published on the TEIC. Micro data can be found on the IVS data download page.

IVS data download

Visitor numbers and composition type are recovering to pre-pandemic levels. International visitor spend is now in line with visitor numbers. Visitor arrivals returned to 83% of pre-pandemic levels while overall visitor spend returned to 85% of pre-pandemic levels. 

For year end June 2024, visitor numbers were 3.21 million compared with 3.89 million for year end June 2019. Flight capacity for year-end June 2024 was 90% of year-end June 2019 levels. Visitor numbers from some markets remained lower but are growing to pre-pandemic levels. For example, Chinese visitors increased to 55% of pre-pandemic levels for year-end June 2024, up from 14% for year-end June 2023. 

The proportion of visitors coming for holiday/vacation has increased while visiting friends and family has decreased. For year-end June 2024, visitors coming for holiday/vacation increased to 46.9% (up from 41.6% in year-end June 2023), while visiting friends and family decreased to 31.1% (down from 37.0%).

Historical data on the IVS data page

2020 and previous releases

International Visitor Survey (IVS) data is presented in the following user-friendly formats.

  • Infographic: provides a visual summary of international visitor expenditure and arrival numbers by key markets.
  • Key data table: provides a summary of international visitor expenditure by key markets and purpose of visit.
  • Pivot tables: provide estimates of international visitor expenditure, and margins of error, by key overseas markets and purpose of visit for every year.

September 2019 data release

International visitor survey infographic year ending September 2019 [PDF, 553 KB]

International visitor survey key data year ending September 2019 [PDF, 194 KB]

International visitor survey pivot table September 2019 [XLSX, 207 KB]

Please exercise caution when using Chinese expenditure estimates this quarter.

For the September 2019 quarter, the sample size for visitors from China was smaller compared to previous quarters (97 respondents against our target of 275). The IVS data is collected through a voluntary survey that visitors are encouraged to complete. The quality of the data relies in getting an appropriate sample size for the segment we're measuring.  We're working with our service provider to investigate the reasons for the low sample size, and how to ensure better response rates in the future.

The IVS data is presented as an annual figure that includes results from the last 4 quarters. For the September 2018 quarter, spend figures for Chinese visitors were lower than other quarters. Given that the lower-spend September 2018 quarter is no longer included in the annual result for the year ended September 2019, this has led to a corresponding rise in Chinese spend.

Earlier releases

Data summaries from earlier releases are grouped below by year and summary type.

Last updated: 04 September 2024