Global payment network UnionPay International (UPI) provided data showing ‘‘strong travel signals’’ on Chinese platforms, which included growth in bookings, searches and travel product demand.
UPI South Pacific Division executive vice-president Michelle Shao said it showed Chinese tourists were once again actively choosing New Zealand for leisure travel and were known for engaging in a wide range of activities during their visits, including scenic/wildlife tours, retail shopping, adventure tourism and culinary experiences — many of which are offered in Otago.
She said the return of Chinese travellers carried ‘‘major economic importance’’ for the New Zealand tourism industry.
The Chinese Embassy in New Zealand said Chinese visitors spent $NZ1.414billion in New Zealand in 2024, and $NZ6450 per trip on average — one of the highest average visitor expenditures among all international tourism markets.
Enterprise Dunedin interim destination manager Teresa Fogarty said she was excited to hear an influx of Chinese tourists could be coming to Dunedin.
‘‘That’s great. We’re always looking for the markets coming up, and the number of Chinese tourists was something that was growing quite a lot before Covid-19 hit.
‘‘Fortunately, we’re just seeing that return now after Covid.
‘‘It was one of the markets that took a bit of time to come back and that was based on capacity, and based on advice in China for people looking to have their tours a bit more locally.
‘‘So I’m delighted now that they’re looking internationally again and that New Zealand and Dunedin have remained top of their charts for what they want to come and see.
‘‘We have a really good offering for them in Dunedin.’’
Otago Peninsula Trust eco-tourism manager Hoani Langsbury said he had already seen an increase in Chinese tourists at the Royal Albatross Centre, Glenfalloch Gardens and Blue Penguins Pukekura.
‘‘We have had reasonably solid Chinese visitor numbers here through December, January and February.
‘‘It took a long time for them to regrow after Covid-19 went through.
‘‘I would say we’re matching pre-Covid numbers for our Chinese visitation again at the Royal Albatross Centre — and that’s consistent with all of our tourist attractions.’’
He was excited to hear there may be even more Chinese tourists on the way in the coming months.
‘‘It is exciting, because for us, Chinese visitors account for 6%-8% of our business.
‘‘We’re still reliant on Australia, the USA, the UK, Germany, and the Netherlands, so its good to see more coming from China.’’
He hoped it would give the local tourism industry a major boost.
‘‘But who knows in our current global climate, what the current fuel prices will do to airline travel.’’
Despite the brightening future for tourism, Enterprise Dunedin and tourist operations around the region were still working hard to attract visitors.
Ms Fogarty said Enterprise Dunedin was always looking at the city’s domestic and international numbers, ‘‘and definitely we look at the markets, based on research that Tourism New Zealand has and that other companies have on what are the types of things those markets are looking for and that help influence where we put our efforts when we’re looking for visitors coming in’’.
Ms Fogarty said a large number of Chinese buyers would be coming to the Trenz international tourism business event in Auckland later this year, and a team from Enterprise Dunedin would be there, meeting travel agents from all over the world, with the aim of selling Dunedin as a holiday destination.
