Rising Costs for Domestic Flights and Accommodation in New Zealand
Click to start listening
Wellington, Dec 16 (NationPress) New Zealand has observed a significant increase in domestic airfare and accommodation costs, making travel within the nation more costly, according to data released by the statistics agency Stats NZ on Monday.
In November 2024, the price of domestic flights rose by 10.8 percent compared to the previous month, marking the largest increase in domestic flight costs since July 2023, as reported by Stats NZ.
Additionally, domestic accommodation prices also saw a rise of 6.9 percent during the same month.
This surge in flight prices coincided with various performances by international artists throughout New Zealand, said Nicola Growden, spokesperson for Stats NZ.
Conversely, international airfare and accommodation costs experienced a decline of 2.7 percent and 4.6 percent respectively, according to the statistics from Xinhua news agency.
Moreover, food prices showed a slight decrease of 0.1 percent in November 2024 compared to October 2024, attributed to a 7.9 percent drop in vegetable prices, marking the third consecutive month of declining vegetable costs alongside increasing fruit prices, Growden explained.
On an annual basis, food prices rose by 1.3 percent over the year leading up to November 2024, driven by higher prices for items such as butter, milk, and olive oil, following a 1.2 percent increase in the prior year.
Stats NZ reported that the number of travelers arriving in New Zealand reached 2.97 million in the year ending October 2024, representing an increase of 383,000 compared to the previous year.
In terms of border crossings, there were 1.07 million recorded crossings in October 2024, including 569,900 arrivals and 504,400 departures. This was an increase from 1.02 million crossings in October 2023, with the October 2024 figures reaching 92 percent of the 1.17 million crossings documented in October 2019, prior to the Covid-19 pandemic.
In October 2024, 240,200 overseas visitors arrived in New Zealand, which was an increase of 14,200 from the previous year, with notable increases from Australia, the United States, Singapore, and Britain.
Overall, the total number of overseas visitors in October 2024 was 85 percent of the 283,800 arrivals recorded in October 2019, as per the data.
Among the 240,200 overseas visitor arrivals in October 2024, 46 percent were from Australia, 9 percent from the United States, 7 percent from China, 5 percent from Britain, 3 percent from India, and 3 percent from Germany, according to the statistics.
Looking at annual figures, New Zealand's overseas visitor arrivals totaled 3.25 million in the year ending October 2024, a rise of 413,000 from the previous year, with significant increases from China, Australia, the United States, South Korea, and Japan, as reported by Stats NZ.
