NEW ZEALAND’S INCREASING POPULARITY

Qatar Airways operates the world’s longest nonstop commercial flight connecting Doha with Auckland in 16hours 35 minutes. This recently introduced service is in response to demand for seats to New Zealand.

(tripadvisor.com)

Shorter by an hour, Emirates operates a direct daily flight between Dubai and Auckland with an A380. This year, 9 additional international airlines began flying to Auckland and tourist numbers for the last 12 months reached close to 4 million, almost the total population of New Zealand. Emirates alone, provides 2,000 seats a day from Dubai to Auckland. (two other flights go via Australia)  Last year, 1,500,000 Australians popped across the Tasman Sea making up 40% of international arrivals. Chinese visitors provided the next highest arrival numbers at close to 500,000.or 11% of arrivals. Since Brexit, British tourist numbers have risen 8% to 220,900, just behind Americans on 291,000. Germans have also discovered the magic of New Zealand with a 14% increase in their visitor numbers this year. To cope with the increasing numbers of visitors, hotels are being constructed across New Zealand in unprecedented numbers. I just hope this doesn’t lead to the overcrowding that people come here to avoid in the first place. read more