New Zealand has seen a surge in Chinese tourists since it began testing an easier pathway for visitors via Australia.
The government began a 12-month trial in November that exempted Chinese and Pacific people from visa requirements if they were travelling from Australia. Officials estimated that after six months the new option has resulted in a 40 per cent increase in Chinese visitor arrivals, Tourism Minister Louise Upston said on Thursday in Wellington.
Tourism is New Zealand’s second-largest export earner after dairy, and is a major cog in the government’s economic growth strategy at a time when domestic spending and investment are suppressed by high fuel costs and uncertainty.
China was the nation’s second-largest source of tourists before the Covid-19 pandemic, but it has yet to return to those levels.
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