Listen Now: 
Download AudioInternational visitor numbers are back to 40 percent of pre-covid levels.
Overseas visitor arrivals exceeded 100,000 in July, the highest monthly total since the borders closed in March 2020, with Queenstown back to 90 percent of the same period in 2019.
Maori Tourism chair Dale Stephens says it’s a good result, but some operators are still waiting for bookings to pick up.
“For Maori tourism entities, 40 percent still won’t be enough to get some of them out of hibernation but for others, depending where they are and how early these numbers are coming back, it’s the fillip then need to get back. Certainly it’s heading in the right direction,” he says.
Mr Stephens doesn’t expect to see numbers back to pre-epidemic levels until next winter or the following summer.
RELATED NEWS
