Chinese tourists flock in to see marvels of New Zealand

The Hobbit location: Lake-town - Lake Pukaki, Mt Cook. Lake Pukaki is a shimmering blue jewel that sets against a backdrop of Aoraki/Mountain Cook, the highest mountain in New Zealand. Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn

The Hobbiton film set tour has become very popular with Chinese travelers, and some travel agencies are promoting such tours.

An article at expedia.ca says: "Join us and experience the real Middle-earth at the Hobbiton Film Set, where, in the heart of the Waikato region, you can step into the lush pastures of the Shire, as seen in The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies."

The New Zealand Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment said recently that China will be New Zealand's largest market for tourism spending by next year and will be the fastest-growing market in terms of visitor numbers.

Michael Bird, the ministry's general manager evidence, monitoring and governance, said: "We are already seeing a marked change in the travel patterns of Chinese visitors. They are visiting more regions in New Zealand and taking on a wider range of activities.

"In terms of absolute volume, Australia will remain New Zealand's largest market for arrivals over the forecast period, but growth in visitors from China outstrips all other markets," said the ministry's forecast report for 2016 to 2022.

The rising number of Chinese visitors helped drive a surge in New Zealand's accommodation sector in March, the government statistics agency said.

Total visitor arrivals reached a record 344,400, up 18 percent from March last year, with arrivals from China up 9,600 to 40,400, making it the second-largest source country after Australia, from which 133,300 visitors arrived, Statistics New Zealand said.

Last year the 356,000 Chinese who visited the country spent NZ$1.67 billion, 62.7 percent more than the year before. The number of arrivals rose 34.3 percent.