New Zealand recorded its first monthly overseas visitor arrivals above pre-pandemic levels in July, marking a major milestone in the country’s tourism recovery.
Stats NZ figures show 256,638 overseas visitors arrived in July 2026, slightly higher than the 255,585 recorded in July 2019, before Covid-19 border restrictions severely disrupted international travel, as reported by Stuff.
It is the first time since the pandemic that visitor arrivals in a single month have surpassed the corresponding month in 2019.
Visitor numbers have steadily recovered from the pandemic lows. Only 3,481 overseas visitors arrived in July 2020, rising to 30,209 in 2021 and 134,175 in 2022 as border restrictions eased, Stuff has reported
The recovery continued with 213,806 arrivals in July 2023, 221,837 in 2024 and 236,550 in July 2025, Stuff has reported.
July 2026 arrivals were around 8.5% higher than a year earlier and about 0.4% above July 2019.
However, the latest figure does not mean the overall visitor market has fully recovered. There were 3.69 million overseas visitor arrivals in the year to July 2026, compared with 3.39 million in the previous 12 months. The figure remains around 200,000 below the 3.89 million recorded in the year to July 2019, Stuff has reported.
Meanwhile, New Zealand residents made 316,974 short-term overseas arrivals in July, down from 321,946 a year earlier and 340,250 in July 2019, as reported by Stuff.
Combined, overseas visitors and returning New Zealand residents accounted for 573,395 short-term arrivals during the month.
For the year ended July, total border-crossing arrivals reached 6.91 million, up from 6.56 million the previous year but still below the 7.07 million recorded in the year to July 2019, as reported by Stuff.
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