Dunedin is riding a wave as Chinese New Year celebrations deliver more visitors and a boost to the city and its businesses.
The influx is on top of the arrival of Cricket World Cup teams, fans and media, and students - some with parents in tow - returning for the start of the academic year.
As a result, Dunedin had joined Queenstown in putting up the ''no vacancy'' sign, and y was likely to remain full for at least the next two weeks, Enterprise Dunedin trade sales representative Gil Abercrombie said yesterday.
That was due in part to Chinese New Year and the anticipated arrival of more than 40,000 visitors to New Zealand from China, Taiwan and Hong Kong in February alone, she said.
Chinese New Year offered a chance for Chinese workers living away from home in China to visit their families, but a growing number were also opting to travel, she said.
''A lot of people take the opportunity to go overseas. That is obviously a huge market,'' she said.
Catering for that demand, China Southern Airlines on Monday began direct charter flights from Guangzhou to Christchurch, bringing more visitors to the South Island.
Many Chinese visitors included Queenstown on a whistlestop tour of the country's top attractions but, with the resort full, more visitors were also seeking beds in Dunedin, she said.
''Certainly, the anecdotal information I'm getting ... is the Chinese market is growing significantly,'' she said.
Larnach Castle was among the attractions to benefit from Chinese New Year and the influx of tourists it brought, director Norcombe Barker said.
Visitor numbers during the holiday were continuing to grow, and were more significant than a one-off event like the Cricket World Cup, he believed.
''It's having a massive impact, and it's having a bigger impact every year ... which is important because that means there's a future in it,'' he said.
At the same time, the overall number of Chinese tourists visiting the castle was also up about 40% in a year and, as a result, the castle's menus had been translated into Mandarin, he said.
Tourism New Zealand figures for the year to December also showed the total number of Chinese visitors to New Zealand was up 15.7%, to 264,864, and in December alone the figure was up 39.4%, to 25,776.
Dunedin Chinese Garden Trust chairman Malcolm Wong said the city's Chinese New Year celebrations - to be staged at the Dunedin Chinese Garden tonight - also encouraged more people to stay longer.
Last year's celebration drew a crowd of up to 6000, but the event was continuing to grow, lifting the profile of the city, he said.
''It just gives a great focus for Dunedin, and the fact that it celebrates this important occasion says lots for Dunedin.
''As it builds up ... it gives a reason for people to come here, and it may give people a reason to stay longer as well,'' he said.
