Australian arrivals to New Zealand rebounded in January but the number of overall international visitors slipped, latest figures have shown.
Just over 101,100 Aussies crossed the Tasman, 2.2% higher than the same month last year, boosted by a 4.4% increase in holiday traffic to 44,336.
Business traffic climbed 9% to more than 9,000 while the number of people attending conferences and incentive trips soared 47%, albeit off a low base of 1,264.
But the visiting friends and relatives market, which has previously been in growth mode, dipped slightly, declining 1.8% to 40,720.
Tourism New Zealand Australia general manager Tim Burgess said the rise in holiday traffic was "exceptionally" good news.
"It is really pleasing to see holiday traffic leading the growth. It shows that the work we are doing and our message to consumers that NZ delivers inspiring holidays is working," he said. "January is our biggest month for arrivals so to see growth sets us up nicely for the year ahead."
Encouragingly, longer stay trips rose sharply, according to the government figures. Although stays of between eight and 14 days fell 1.7%, there was a healthy 15% rise in the number of travellers staying between two and three weeks.
Tourism New Zealand has long sought to encourage Australians to stay longer and, as a consequence, spend more which officials view as the most critical barometre of success.
Overall international arrivals in January declined from 267,000 to 260,600, a fall of 2.3%.
UK arrivals fell 8% to 27,500 with China down almost a fifth to 18,700. The US and Japan however showed strong growth, rising 17% to 24,300 and 9% to 7,100 respectively.
