The tourism sector's still fighting for pre-Covid numbers. 

The most recent International Visitor Survey shows overseas visitor numbers have lifted by nearly 200 thousand over the past year – up 5%. 

Their spending was up by around $500 million but is still only 86% of pre-Covid numbers.  

Tourism New Zealand CEO René de Monchy told Mike Hosking they're pushing to get visitor numbers back up to pre-Covid levels by the end of next year. 

He says a lot of overseas markets are competing for international visitors. 

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