Opportunity and upswing collide to make 2025 a year of promise for New Zealand’s tourism sector.

It has been a long burn for the New Zealand tourism market post-pandemic and looking at the key metrics, the sector is almost back to where it was before the world went into a tailspin.

The government has stressed that tourism is one of the short-term levers it can pull to encourage economic growth and recently promised $13.5 million to “turbocharge” Tourism New Zealand’s spend on global marketing, suggesting it could bring an extra 23,000 visitors with a focus on China, Australia, United States, India, Germany and South Korea markets.

The recently introduced digital nomad visa is one initiative in the toolbox, while facilitating closer relationships with India, the world’s fastest-growing major economy, is another – with Tourism New Zealand and Air New Zealand having eyes on India, too.

It’s encouraging to see that our country’s 2024 annual international visitor numbers were up 12.1 percent on 2023 figures – still shy of 2019 volumes, but gaining ground. RevPAR, ADR and occupancy figures vary quite widely across regions according to Hotel Data New Zealand stats.

March 2025 data shows Queenstown leading the way on RevPAR and ADR, Nelson-Marlborough showing strong performance and all of Wellington’s key metrics at sub-2019 levels.

While hotel room supply in Auckland has increased significantly over the past six years, occupancy levels have not kept pace, with a slow recovery of the Chinese visitor market, a subdued economy, and a shortage of major events contributing to this shortfall.

The long-awaited New Zealand International Convention Centre in the Auckland CBD will open for conferences and events in February 2026, and, with capacity for up to 3,000 delegates at a time, the city’s accommodation and hospitality providers will be pleased to see it.

For hotel, tourism and leisure properties, I sense that with interest rates trending downwards, tourism numbers rebounding, and the government’s newly introduced Active Investor Plus programme encouraging offshore direct investment in New Zealand property and businesses, 2025 could be the year of the deals.

This financial year looks certain to be a better one for vendors, buyers, and operators, and lenders now have three full years of post-pandemic financials as reference which will help.

High-value commercial accommodation transaction volumes in New Zealand are traditionally low compared to, say, Australia where the market is more mature and population numbers are much higher.

Bayleys transaction figures for commercial accommodation assets in the sub-$20 million bracket are always strong, but stock in the even higher brackets is tightly held with hotel assets seen as long-term holds and seldom changing hands.

Let Bayleys help you move the dial in the tourism property space – whichever side of the bed you are on! We look forward to talking to you.