(NEW ZEALAND) — New Zealand launched a 12-month visa-waiver trial in November 2025 for eligible Chinese and Pacific Island Forum passport holders traveling from Australia. The government said the program generated $215 million in visitor spending and brought in 80,000 travelers in its first six months.

Officials said the rise has been especially visible among Chinese tourists. They have used the easier entry arrangement to travel to New Zealand from Australia without applying for a visitor visa under the usual process.

Under the trial, eligible travelers can request an electronic travel authority instead of a visitor visa if they are already permitted to be in Australia. The measure applies to Chinese passport holders and Pacific Island Forum passport holders traveling to New Zealand from Australia.

The policy began in November 2025 and runs for 12 months. New Zealand officials described it as a simplified travel option, while the government said it was designed to boost tourism and support jobs.

The first six months of the visa-waiver trial offer an early measure of that effect. The government tied the program to $215 million in visitor spending and 80,000 travelers. It presented these figures as evidence that the arrangement is drawing extra traffic across the Tasman route from Australia.

Chinese arrivals stand out in that early data. Coverage published on June 25, 2026 said the surge was particularly visible among Chinese tourists taking advantage of the looser entry process.

The change is narrow but commercially relevant. It does not open a broad new route from China directly into New Zealand; it applies to eligible Chinese and Pacific Island Forum passport holders. These travelers are traveling to New Zealand from Australia and can seek an electronic travel authority rather than a visitor visa.

That distinction shapes how the program works in practice. Travelers covered by the trial still need permission to enter New Zealand. However, the government replaced one layer of paperwork with an electronic travel authority for this group. This creates a faster path for short-term travel than the standard visitor visa requirement.

Tourism officials have long treated Australia as a critical feeder market for travel into New Zealand. The current trial appears built around that pattern. By targeting visitors who are already in Australia, the government positioned the scheme as a travel facilitation measure rather than a broad rewrite of border policy.

The arrangement also speaks to competition for regional tourism spending. Visitor spending matters not only for hotels and tour operators, but also for restaurants, transport companies and retail businesses that rely on short-stay international arrivals. New Zealand’s government framed the program in those economic terms when it said the trial would support jobs.

Chinese travel demand carries extra weight in that calculation because of its scale. Officials did not release a separate spending total for Chinese visitors in the figures cited on Thursday. However, they said the growth was especially evident among Chinese tourists, suggesting that the trial’s effect has been concentrated in one of the largest travel segments covered by the scheme.

The design of the trial also makes it a closely watched test of whether simpler border procedures can lift demand without removing entry controls altogether. Instead of waiving authorization entirely, New Zealand shifted eligible travelers to an electronic travel authority model. This preserves a screening requirement while reducing the need for a visitor visa.

That approach places the program somewhere between full visa-free travel and the standard application system. In policy terms, the visa-waiver trial functions as a limited easing for a defined group: Chinese and Pacific Island Forum passport holders, departing from Australia, who can use an electronic travel authority to visit New Zealand.

The government has not announced a broader expansion in the material released with the six-month figures. What it has released is a set of early results: a trial that started in November 2025, covers 12 months, and after half a year had produced $215 million in visitor spending and 80,000 travelers. The strongest visible lift is coming from Chinese tourists.