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Overseas visitors come in record numbers to New Zealand

Xinhua, January 31, 2017 Adjust font size:

A surge in travelers from China, Australia and the United States drove New Zealand visitor numbers to a new annual record last year, the government statistics agency said Tuesday.

Annual visitor arrivals numbered almost 3.5 million, up 11.8 percent from 2015, according to Statistics New Zealand.

"People coming over for holidays made up more than half of the visits in 2016," population statistics manager Jo-Anne Skinner said in a statement.

"Almost three-quarters of holidaymakers stayed in New Zealand for a fortnight or less."

Visitor numbers from Australia were up 6.2 percent to 1.4 million, while Chinese visitor numbers rose 14.9 percent to 409,008, and U.S. numbers were up 19.9 percent to 291,392.

Visitor arrivals numbered 494,200 in December 2016, setting a new monthly record and up 11 percent from the previous record month of December 2015. Endit