A record number of international visitors came to NZ in December

Record numbers of overseas visitors came to New Zealand in December, new figures from Statistics New Zealand show.

There were 341,300 visitors in December, the highest ever recorded in one month, and a 6 percent increase over the previous record of 322,200 in December 2008.

Visitor figures have increased in seven of the last nine months over the same months in previous years.

The December increase was driven by 14,000 more Australian visitors, along with 2800 more visitors from the United States and 1200 more from Singapore. However, visitors from China were down by 2300.

There were 2.458 million visitors in total last year, similar to 2008 levels but down from 2007.

Australian visitors were up 106,500, an 11 percent increase, but there were fewer visitors from the United Kingdom, Korea, Japan, the US and China.

New Zealand residents went on slightly fewer overseas trips last year, with 1.918 million short-term departures, down 2 percent on 2008.

The number of New Zealanders moving overseas also decreased last year, with permanent and long-term departures down by 18,500, including 15,700 fewer to Australia.

New Zealand's overall migration balance was a gain of 21,300, the highest since 2004, when there was a gain of 22,000.

(Source - The Dominion Post, NZPA)