Earlier Easter holidays saw visitor arrivals down 4 percent in April but Iceland's volcanic eruption also hit travelling numbers during the month, according to Statistics New Zealand.Although the holidays started on April 2, many people travel shortly bef
Earlier Easter holidays saw visitor arrivals down 4 percent in April but Iceland's volcanic eruption also hit travelling numbers during the month, according to Statistics New Zealand.
Although the holidays started on April 2, many people travel shortly before holiday periods begin, said population statistics manager Denise McGregor.
"The earlier timing of Easter, and school holidays in some Australian states, contributed to more visits in March but fewer in April this year."
Visitor arrivals, 188,000, were down from 195,900 in April last year.
More visitors arrived from Korea, up 1300, but fewer arrived from the United Kingdom, down 3700, and the United States, down 2100.
"Most of the decrease in visitors from both the United Kingdom and Germany occurred in the first half of April, before the volcanic eruption in Iceland disrupted air travel in Europe," Mrs McGregor said.
European flights were disrupted from April 15 following the eruption of Iceland's Eyjafjallajokul volcano.
New Zealand residents departed on 163,000 overseas trips, similar to the 162,400 in April 2009.
One thousand more New Zealand residents departed on trips to the United States, but 2600 fewer went to Australia and 1900 fewer went to the United Kingdom.
The disruption caused by the Icelandic volcanic eruption also contributed to the decrease in trips to the United Kingdom.
The earlier holidays also contributed to fewer trips to Australia and the United Kingdom compared with April 2009.
Permanent and long-term arrivals exceeded departures by 800 on a seasonally adjusted basis, the lowest figure since December 2008.
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