Fiji stays Kiwis’ favorite vacation hotspot, journey statistics reveal
Fiji continues to be the favorite vacation spot for New Zealanders, journey stats have revealed.
London, Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne made the highest 5 hotspots for Kiwis heading on vacation final yr.
Flight Centre New Zealand’s 2022 report launched final month additionally acknowledged that out of the ten lodges that Kiwis booked anyplace on this planet, eight of them have been in Fiji.
Fijian Bureau of Statistics information for final yr confirmed there have been 152,863 guests from Aotearoa and 345,149 from Australia, its greatest market.
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Flight Centre mentioned its report was primarily based on bookings made between December 1, 2021, and November 30, 2022.
Lodge bookings noticed The Edgewater Resort & Spa in Rarotonga at primary, adopted by Fiji Seaside Resort & Spa, Fiji Gateway Lodge, Sheraton Fiji Golf & Seaside Resort, and Fiji’s Radisson Blu Resort.
The costliest resort keep booked by a Kiwi in 2022 was simply over $45,000, the journey company mentioned, including that the priciest cruise reserving had value one buyer greater than $88,000.
Pre-Covid, within the 12 months to February 2020, 3.1 million Kiwis travelled overseas averaging out at 260,000 a month, Stats NZ Tatauranga Aotearoa figures present.
BROOK SABIN
Think about having a therapeutic massage in the midst of a blue lagoon. You are surrounded by water so clear that it feels such as you’re staring straight into the soul of the ocean.
It’s been simply over a yr since Fiji reopened to worldwide travellers after shutting its borders in March 2020 attributable to Covid-19.
Fiji was opened to quarantine-free leisure journey, virtually half a yr earlier than New Zealand eased its restrictions.
Previous to 2020, near 1 million vacationers visited Fiji in a yr. This represented two-fifths of the Pacific nation’s GDP.
Tourism Fiji additionally introduced final month that customer numbers from New Zealand had exceeded pre-pandemic ranges for the primary time.
Kiwis have accounted for simply over 1 / 4 of all worldwide visits to Fiji, it mentioned.
Provided
Tourism Fiji boss Brent Hill says they’re tapping into the distinctive Fijian cultural campaigns to draw extra guests from Asia.
Between January to November final yr, Fiji welcomed 560,550 guests to its shores, including $1.2 billion to the economic system.
Tourism Fiji chief government Brent Hill mentioned that in November alone, 63,646 guests arrived within the nation from Australia, Aotearoa, United States and Canada.
Hill mentioned promotion in key markets was a motive for the success in 2022.
“Now we have persistently marketed Fiji to Australia, New Zealand, US, the UK and Canada,” he mentioned.
“Now we have partnered with Fiji Airways to take care of a powerful schedule of flights with good value factors which actually makes Fiji engaging.
“Our lodges have additionally been placing collectively packages which have finished properly,” Hill mentioned.
The top of MIQ (managed quarantine on return) for New Zealanders in Might final yr additionally resulted in a rise of tourists to Fiji from Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch.
Fiji was one of many first nations to have resort quarantine intervals and Covid assessments on arrival for guests.
Extremely depending on tourism, the Fijian authorities pioneered Covid Secure customer protocols with its Care Dedication programme.
Fiji’s Well being Ministry mentioned earlier this month it had detected the XBB.1.5 variant, with 147 energetic Covid instances reported on January 19. Near 70,000 folks had Covid in Fiji with a complete of 883 deaths confirmed.
Vacation spot Queenstown
Queenstown is among the many prime 5 home locations for Kiwis.
Hill mentioned Fiji aimed to get to 85% of the 2019 numbers in 2023, “so 760,000 vacationers for this yr”.
“We might be concentrating on China and Japan – new markets to open with direct flights,” he mentioned.
Flight Centre NZ additionally reported that the longest journey it bought was from Auckland to New York, to London, Madrid, Lisbon, Milan, Istanbul, Nairobi, Dubai, Orlando, Montego Bay, Chicago, San Francisco, Melbourne, to Bali, to Melbourne and again to Auckland.
At residence, Auckland was the highest vacation spot for Kiwis adopted by Christchurch, Wellington, Queenstown and Dunedin.
For Kiwis who most well-liked to cruise on the seas, Sydney was the favorite vacation spot then Brisbane, Amsterdam within the Netherlands, Southampton, United Kingdom and Honolulu, Hawaii.
Within the 4 weeks ending December 4, 2022, greater than 200,000 guests had arrived in New Zealand – in contrast with simply over 5000 in the identical interval in 2021, Stats NZ reported.
