New Zealand Hotel Performance Surges Just As Geopolitical Turmoil Hits the World :: Hospitality Trends

New Zealand Hotel Performance Focus March & Q1 2026

New Zealand’s hotel sector finished the first quarter with strong momentum, carrying forward the exceptional performance recorded across January and February 2026, according to Hotel Data New Zealand (HDNZ), with no material signs of demand weakness following world events that started on 28 February and a 14.9% year-on-year increase in national RevPAR.

International Visitor Arrivals, measured by border crossings of non-New Zealand citizens, continued their strong recovery trajectory in March 2026, growing 15% year-on-year and reaching 96% of March 2019 pre-COVID volumes. The two strongest source markets were the People’s Republic of China (PRC), from which arrivals grew 22% year-on-year to 94% of 2019 levels, and Australia, up 20% year-on-year.

Arrivals from the USA also posted healthy growth of 14%, while arrivals from other markets remained approximately 8% below 2019 levels. Despite geopolitical tensions in the Middle East that escalated in late February, overall arrivals were not materially disrupted. The primary observable impact was a decline of approximately 87% in arrivals from the UAE and Qatar, offset by increases in arrivals from Singapore and Malaysia.

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New Zealand Hotel Performance Focus March & Q1 2026