International Visitor Survey data release materials
On this page, we provide a link to the new data visualisations for the March 2024 quarter (Q1) and year ending March 2024. Summaries of previous releases are also provided.
On this page
2024 Quarter 1 release
Data visualisations for the year ending March 2024, the March 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 June 2024 release contains the following charts for the year ending March 2024 (April 2023 to March 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
New visualisations were added to the TEIC each quarter from September 2022. From December quarter 2023 results onward, there are no new quarter visualisations.
High-level results are published on the TEIC. Micro data can be found on the IVS data download page.
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 82% of pre-pandemic levels while overall visitor spend returned to 80% of pre-pandemic levels.
For year end March 2024, visitor numbers were 3.18 million compared with 3.87 million for year end March 2019. Flight capacity for year-end March 2024 was 88% of year-end March 2019 levels. Visitor numbers from some markets remained lower but are strongly growing to pre-pandemic levels. For example, Chinese visitors increased to 48% of pre-pandemic levels for year-end March 2024, up from 28% for year-end December 2023.
Proportionally, more visitors still come to New Zealand to visit family and friends. This proportion increased in recent years but is now returning to pre-pandemic levels (28% in March 2024 quarter compared to 25% in March 2019 quarter). These visitors traditionally spend less than visitors travelling for a holiday.
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.
December 2018 data release
International visitor survey year ending December 2018 [PDF, 488 KB]
International visitor survey key data year ending December 2018 [PDF, 171 KB]
Pivot table December 2018 [XLSX, 234 KB]
September 2018 data release
International visitor survey year ending September 2018 [PDF, 540 KB]
International visitor survey key data year ending September 2018 [PDF, 188 KB]
Pivot table September 2018 [XLSX, 234 KB]
June 2018 data release
International visitor survey year ending June 2018 [PDF, 443 KB]
International visitor survey key data year ending June 2018 [PDF, 185 KB]
Pivot table June 2018 [XLSX, 175 KB]
March 2018 data release
International visitor survey year ending March 2018 [PDF, 506 KB]
International visitor survey key data year ending March 2018 [PDF, 181 KB]
Pivot table March 2018 [XLSX, 234 KB]
December 2017 data release
International visitor survey year ending December 2017 [PDF, 358 KB]
International visitor survey key data year ending December 2017 [PDF, 187 KB]
Pivot table December 2017 [XLSX, 230 KB]
September 2017 data release
International visitor survey year ending September 2017 [PDF, 477 KB]
International visitor survey key data year ending September 2017 [PDF, 171 KB]
Pivot table September 2017 [XLSX, 230 KB]
June 2017 data release
International visitor survey key data year ending June 2017 [PDF, 171 KB]
2016 key data tables
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International Visitor Survey: Key data - Year-ending December 2016 [PDF 190KB]
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International Visitor Survey: Key data - Year-ending September 2016 [PDF 171KB]
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International Visitor Survey: Key data - Year-ending June 2016 [PDF 172KB]
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International Visitor Survey: Key data - Year-ending March 2016 [PDF 186KB]
2015 key data tables
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International Visitor Survey: Key data - Year-ending December 2015 [PDF 193KB]
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International Visitor Survey: Key data - Year-ending September 2015 [PDF 186KB]
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International Visitor Survey: Key data - Year-ending June 2015 [PDF 191KB]
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International Visitor Survey: Key data - Year-ending March 2015 [PDF 182KB]