New Zealand is making it easier for Chinese visa holders by extending the length of visitor visas from 12 months to 24 months from the start of next month. The change will apply from 1 May for independent travellers regarded as being a low risk. Multiple entry visitor visas will be routinely granted but the change does not apply to people visiting on organised tours, said Tourism Minister John Key.

‘The extended visa makes it easier for Chinese visitors to come to New Zealand because if they return within two years they don’t have to repeat the visa application process,’ he explained. A new bi-lingual China section on the Immigration New Zealand website is also set to make it easier for Chinese visitors to lodge a visa application. ‘Advice is provided in English and Chinese and information previously spread across three parts of the Immigration NZ website has been brought together into one location. There is also a link to useful information for travellers on the Tourism New Zealand website,’ added Key.

The initiatives are the result of a high level review of the China tourism market by a panel of New Zealand government and industry experts. The panel’s report, the China Market Review, contains a number of recommendations on how New Zealand can attract Chinese visitors and deliver quality tourism experiences. These recommendations range from providing better market intelligence for tourism operators, to higher quality tours provided through Tourism New Zealand’s Premier Kiwi Partnership programme, and making the most of Chinese visitors’ interest in learning about Maori culture.

‘China is our most rapidly growing tourism market and we need to ensure we’re offering Chinese visitors the highest quality experiences and meeting their expectations,’ said Key. Over the past year, more than 200,000 Chinese visitors came to New Zealand, up about 38% on the previous year, and they spent around $651 million in New Zealand. China is the second largest source of overseas visitors to New Zealand.
Quote from ExpatForum.com : "More people from China are visiting
New Zealand
, overtaking the United Kingdom to become New Zealand’s second biggest source of visitors, the latest data to be published shows."
The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) welcomed the report. ‘China is our most rapidly growing tourism market. China is very different from our traditional visitor markets. It has seen extraordinary growth, has a multitude of different market segments and cultures,’ said Lisa Barrett, general manager of MBIE’s Tourism, Sectors, Regions and Cities group. ‘The report offers recommendations on how we can better attract and cater for Chinese visitors. For example, we know that Chinese visitors value New Zealand for its wide open spaces and beautiful scenery. We also know that they often book their travel in different ways to visitors from more traditional markets, and that more and more are opting to travel independently,’ she added.

She also explained that new development will include a new toolkit to accelerate New Zealand businesses’ ability to attract, engage with and better cater to the needs of the Chinese visitor market. Implementation of industry partnerships between Immigration New Zealand and private sector interests that will provide for streamlined visa facilitation is also being pursued.