New Zealand hails UK visitor growth despite geopolitical challenges

UK leisure travel to New Zealand has grown in 2026 despite concerns caused by the Middle East crisis, according to Tourism New Zealand chief executive René de Monchy.

De Monchy said the destination’s fourth-largest source market had achieved “strong growth” in the last 12 months, though greater momentum was slowed by the US-Iran conflict.

“By the end of February this year, the growth rate over a 12-month period was at about 13% for UK leisure arrivals,” he said.

“The Middle East conflict has put a bit of headwind into that, so we closed out the year to June with about 9% UK leisure arrival growth.”

Fears around fuel shortages in Australia and airspace closures over the Gulf region had also impacted inbound tourism, he noted, but travellers had pivoted to other routes. 

“Before the war, about 40% of travellers would go with Emirates and Qatar, and we’ve seen that change," he said. “Air New Zealand works with partners who can fly both ways around the world, so it’s now a fairly equal split between Asia and the US.”

He added that booking windows for long-haul trips to New Zealand have changed. “People are either booking quite last minute, i.e. 30 to 60 days before travel, or booking 18 months in advance. There’s lots of intent, as people dream about coming to New Zealand for a long time, but there’s a bit of hesitancy to push ‘book’.”

However, the organisation is optimistic that the upcoming Southern Hemisphere summer peak season will continue to see UK visitation grow, with interest spurred by the launch of the New Zealand Michelin Guide – the first in Oceania – as well as the upcoming ITV series Gary Barlow’s Food and Wine Tour: New Zealand. 

Kate Fenton, Tourism New Zealand’s regional trade manager for the UK and Europe, said: “On our trade training portal, we’ve got two webinars purely focused on food and drink coming up in the next few weeks.”

The two modules are ‘A Taste of the North Island’, which will take place on September 16, followed by ‘A Taste of the South Island’ on October 7. 

“There’s also a new food and drink module on our specialist programme, which agents can unlock once they graduate,” said Fenton.

“If agents can upskill themselves in why New Zealand is a destination of choice, they will find that so much easier to convert.”

Trade training can be found at traveltrade.newzealand.com/uk.