TAANZ says travel spending is up this year as government figures show the number of Kiwis taking holidays overseas during the past year set a new record.
The association’s ceo Julie White says IATA Billing and Settlement Plan (BSP) gross sales in this mar ket are up 2.4% to USD1.23 billion to Jul this year, despite disruption from conflict in the Middle East. Jun sales were 17.1% up on the same month last year and cash sales bounced back from a low of 65% in Apr to 73.5% in Jul indicating returning confidence. “The full year position is firmly positive. That’s not a fragile market. That’s a resilient one,’’ says White.
. . . New Record
Stats NZ figures show Kiwis made 3.09 million trips in the Jun 2026 year, up 45,000 trips on the Jun 2025 year, and up from 3.07 million from the last record year in 2019. Australia was up 57,000 to 1.3 million and there was record travel to the Cook Islands (116,000), Japan (95,000), the Philippines (64,000), Vietnam (39,000), and Sri Lanka (16,000). However, travel to the US was down 29,000 to 138,000 trips. White says the destination mix shift is something the industry has been watching closely. The ever more popular destinations shown in the figures indicate Kiwis are increasingly comfortable with Asia-Pacific travel. “The softening in US travel is real and worth watching, but it reflects a combination of factors: the high cost of the journey, geopolitical headwinds, airfare premiums on transpacific routes, and some broader sentiment shift.”
. . . Inbound
The Stats NZ figures show 9% annual growth in inbound tourists to 3.67 million overseas visitor arrivals. White says a healthy two-way market benefits everyone. Strong visitor arrivals drive airline capacity decisions; and more capacity means more options and more competitive fares for outbound travellers. “For our members, a strong outbound year in this environment is genuinely encouraging…”
