Gap year travel insurance customers may have been among those boosting New Zealand's tourist arrivals to record levels last month.
Figures released by Statistics New Zealand revealed total visitor numbers for September exceeded 2008 levels by 9.3 per cent, or an additional 14,700 arrivals.
Commenting on the data, Tourism New Zealand chief executive George Hickton said it signalled a recovery from the downturn and the impact of swine flu, which hit holidaymakers from Asia particularly hard.
"Today's figures show our top five markets are all showing significant improvement on last month, which is great news for the industry heading into the crucial summer season," he noted.
He added that the recent trend for later bookings makes it more difficult to predict whether this growth would continue into next summer, but economic recovery in China and the US would provide a significant boost.
In related news, conservation charity WWF-Australia has warned tourism officials to take better care of the country's shark population, or risk losing valuable wildlife tourism.