By Madeleine Goujon | Posted on 07/27/2020 at 5:57 PM | Updated on 07/28/2020 at 04:51

The numbers have dropped, New Zealanders have traveled to New Zealand more during this winter school vacation than last year. Invited by the Government to visit “Their backyard” Following the COVID-19 pandemic, the Kiwis have answered the call: some regions have even experienced a 50% increase in national visitors this year.

“New data released by Tourism NZ shows that all regions have seen an increase in national visitors during the July school holidays compared to last year… Fantastic! “, said Kelvin Davis, New Zealand Minister of Tourism. Data collected by Data Venture, commissioned by Tourism New Zealand, report an increase in domestic tourism in New Zealand between July 4 and 19, 2020 compared to the same period in 2019. With a peak of 550,000 visitors from outside their region of origin ” on July 11, all regions saw growth in tourism, including Kaikōura in the South Island, with a 56% increase in the number of domestic tourists this year.

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Hitting the road and getting out “Explore their backyard”, New Zealanders have “Given an indispensable boost to communities across the country”, according to René de Monchy, commercial director of Tourism New Zealand. Faced with border restrictions linked to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Government had indeed invited them to leave “The local adventure” and “Do something new in New Zealand”. Although domestic tourism accounts for nearly 60% of the country’s tourism industry, Kiwis spend $ 9 billion a year traveling abroad. Encouraging them to travel within the country would obviously aim to capture part of this expenditure, and rather benefit the national economy.