Aussies travelling to Queenstown are keeping our tourism recovery alive. Our numbers aren't at pre-pandemic levels, but we've had 151,300 arrivals in September, up from 129,800 in August 2022. 

Kiwi departures are still outnumbering tourist arrivals, but the gap is getting smaller. And Australians are the ones bridging the gap, with their numbers being at 79 percent of what they were before Covid.

Infometrics Principal Economist Brad Olsen has compiled these numbers and explained what they mean for tourism ahead of the peak summer season.

LISTEN ABOVE

• Mike Yardley: Fiji’s post-Covid tourism renaissance
• Tourism Minister says NZ needs 'high value' tourists post-Covid-19
• Sir John Key: No guarantees when it comes to our Covid recovery
• Stuart Nash takes strong stance over Covid vaccinations