International Visitor Survey data download
As part of our ongoing commitment to supporting tourism research, this page provides the International Visitor Survey (IVS) microdata.
On this page
Data for download: Quarter 3 2022 to quarter 1 2025
The IVS recommenced in July 2022 after a break of two years due to COVID-19. Rolling (last 4 quarters) annual results were added for the first time since May 2020, for year ending September 2023.
Data format
The data are in comma separated value (CSV) format as tables that are copies of the database views used by our analysts. This format is the most efficient way of organising the survey data as a database and is aimed at specialist researchers with statistical tools and skills.
International visitor survey data – Quarter 1 2025 [ZIP, 6.1 MB]
Data tables in the zip file
The tables contained in the zip file are listed below. The tables were updated in the September 2022 release to reflect changes to the survey questions. These changes are outlined in the methodology document.
International Visitor Survey methodology
| Data table | Description |
|---|---|
| survey_main_header.csv | Contains main survey details and all single-response question answers. |
| accommodation.csv | Provides details of accommodation types used by respondent – multiple responses possible. |
| activities.csv | Provides details of activities done by the respondent during their visit – multiple responses possible. |
| branding.csv | Details of respondents’ familiarity and use of key tourism brands. |
| decision_making_process.csv | Provides details of reasons why NZ appealed to the respondent – multiple responses possible. |
| ease_of_organisation.csv | Details the extent to which it was easy for the respondent to organise trips. |
| environment.csv | Provides details of the respondents’ consideration of the environment. |
| expenditure_by_payment_type.csv | Contains the percentage breakdown of expenditure by payment type, such as cash, card, or digital payment. |
| expenditure_by_product.csv | Provides respondents’ spending by category, such as accommodation, food and drink, or transport. |
| impact_of_covid19.csv | Provides details of how COVID-19 affected planning and travel. |
| itinerary.csv | Details of where the respondent stayed on the trip and the number of nights spent. |
| māori_cultural_experiences.csv | Provides details of how respondents experienced Māori culture. |
| māori_cultural_sentiment.csv | Details respondent sentiment on how they found Māori culture. |
| mobility.csv | Details about difficulties doing certain activities due to health problems. |
| other_countries_visited.csv | Details of other countries visited before and after NZ. |
| poor_experiences.csv | Provides the frequency of poor environmental experiences respondents might have encountered. |
| secondary_purpose_of_visit.csv | Provides details of secondary reasons for most recent trip to New Zealand. Multi response. |
| self_transport.csv | Provides details of the transportation the respondent was responsible for. |
| transport_methods.csv | Provides details of the different transportation methods used by the respondent. |
| travel_party.csv | Provides details of the travel party the respondent was in for the trip. |
| visitor_satisfaction.csv | Provides details of the respondent’s rating of their trip to New Zealand. |
| visitor_satisfaction reasons.csv | Provides reasons for the respondent’s rating of their trip to New Zealand. Data available for 2024Q2 only. |
| ease_of_organisation reasons.csv | Outlines what respondents found difficult to organise in preparation for their trip. Data available for 2024Q2 only. |
Changes in Q3 and Q4 2022 microdata from previous releases
| Data table | Description |
|---|---|
| survey_main_header.csv | The vem_pop_weight used to weight up responses in the non-compulsory section has been recalculated after we found an error with it for both quarters. |
Changes in Q4 2024 microdata from previous release
| Data table | Description |
|---|---|
| activities.csv | A new variable was added for the stargazing activity, under the Activities category. |
Changes in Q2 2024 microdata from previous release
| Data table | Description |
| Visitor_satisfaction reasons.csv | New data table added on reasons for the respondent’s satisfaction rating of their trip to New Zealand. Data available for 2024Q2 only |
| ease_of_organisation reasons.csv | New data table added on what respondents found difficult to organise in preparation for their trip. Data available for 2024Q2 only. |
Changes in 2023 Q3 microdata from previous release
| Data table | Description |
| decision_making_process.csv | New codes added: Seeing coverage of major events being held in New Zealand. |
| FIFA_womens_world_cup.csv | New data table on temporary question added for Q3: Was attending the FIFA Women’s World Cup a main reason for you going to New Zealand? |
Changes in 2023 Q2 microdata from previous release
| Data table | Description |
| itinerary.csv | Aggregate nights to Territorial Authority Level. TA’s that include multiple RTO’s have been split accordingly. |
| survey_main_header.csv | Decision making process: Open-text answers have been removed and will be coded for ease of analysis. |
Changes in 2023 Q1 microdata from previous release
| Data table | Description |
| survey_main_header.csv | Variable determining new or returning visitors has been recoded as first_nz_trip |
| expenditure_by_product.csv | Renamed from expenditure_by_industry.csv, with outlier treatment applied on all components of spend included in the respondent’s final (treated) spend total, proportional to how much treated spend was scaled down. Components of spend that aren’t included in the treated spend are clearly marked beginning with “exc_” and do not have outlier treatment applied to it. |
Changes in 2022 Q4 microdata from previous release
| Data table | Changes |
| All applicable tables | Macrons have been added to Māori, Tairāwhiti etc. Note that all tables are UTF-8 encoded to allow for these special characters. Some values have been recoded to align with how the answer appears in the questionnaire. |
| survey_main_header.csv | Total spend has been removed to avoid confusion with the final spend variable “treated_spend”. The length of stay for visitors who arrived by cruise ship now starts from the day they first disembarked at a New Zealand port. Categorical variables that were left uncoded now have descriptive values: no_days_in_nz_unknown, no_selection_itinerary, incl_stay_other_country, other_purchase, psu The vem_pop_weight used to weight up responses in the non-compulsory section has been recalculated, using the population that answered after IVS_ITI8 (the last compulsory question). |
| activities.csv | One entry from Q3 2022 that visited “A national park” without specifying which national park in IVS_ACT2 was added. |
| itinerary.csv | The night_num column has been renamed to “nights” to align with other microdata views. |
| other_countries_visited.csv | 4 duplicate entries from Q3 2022 have been removed. |
Microdata from previous releases
The microdata for the 2020 International Visitor Survey are contained in this zip file.
International visitor survey data – March 2020 [ZIP, 31 MB]
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 New Zealand License(external link)
Disclaimer
The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) won't be held accountable for any error, inaccurate findings, or interpretation within the data. We're also not responsible for the results of any actions taken on the basis of this information.
Data release calendar
Check upcoming scheduled tourism survey releases on our Data release calendar.
Last updated: 03 June 2025