Strong growth in the number of Chinese and Australian visitors during December has helped New Zealand record its biggest month for international visitor arrivals since records began.

Total international arrivals in December 2010 were up 1.3 per cent to 345,656, beating the previous record of 341,337, set in December 2009. The increase was driven by a 3.0 per cent (4,471 people) increase in arrivals from Australia and 21.3 per cent growth (2,490 people) in arrivals from China.

Tourism New Zealand Chief Executive Kevin Bowler said the growth in Australian and Chinese arrivals was the result of strong economic conditions in the two countries and effective marketing work in the lead-up to New Zealand's peak tourism season.

"Chinese visitor numbers have shown year-on-year growth in every month since May 2010. We anticipate further growth in the coming year, thanks to new air routes linking Asia to New Zealand, combined with an increase in Tourism New Zealand marketing featuring our New Zealand 100% Pure You marketing message and joint-venture work with our airline and travel partners."

The continued growth in arrivals from New Zealand's largest international visitor market, Australia, was pleasing, Mr Bowler said.

However, it was unclear at this stage what impact the recent severe weather events centred on Queensland would have on arrivals from the market in coming months.

South Korea and India also recorded increases for the month of December, contributing 9,976 arrivals between them, compared to 9,207 in December 2009.

Mr Bowler said growth in arrivals in December had been tempered by the continued decline in arrivals from some of New Zealand's traditionally strong visitor markets.

Arrivals from the UK decreased by 9.1 per cent (3,595 people) while visitor numbers from the US also fell, dropping 8.3 per cent (2,193 people) in December.

"In North America, the economic recovery remains slow and that continues to impact demand. The European economies are battling similarly tough economic conditions, and December arrival figures were also affected by flight cancellations as a result of the coldest UK December on record, increasing air taxes and competition from other destinations.

"Despite these challenges we remain hopeful that with an improvement in the US economy and some targeted marketing we will see it turnaround this year, while we anticipate UK visitor figures will be boosted by Rugby World Cup 2011."

Mr Bowler said growth in air links to New Zealand from the growing Asian markets boded well for the year ahead.

In January China Airlines opened a route from Taipei to Auckland, via Brisbane, and Singapore Airlines announced it would increase the frequency of its flights from Singapore to Christchurch during the New Zealand winter, while Thai Airways also announced increased frequency of flights to Auckland.

Other new routes opening this year include an AirAsia X direct service between Kuala Lumpur and Christchurch, a Jetstar service between Auckland and Singapore and a China Southern Airlines service from Guangzhou, in Southern China, to Auckland.

International Visitor Arrivals December 2010:

• Country, Arrivals for Dec, Change from Dec 2009, Arrivals Full Year to Dec, Change for Full Year to Dec
• Australia, 151,351, Up 3.0%, 1,119,879, Up 3.4%
• US, 24,186, Down 8.3%, 189,709, Down 4.1%
• UK, 35,960, Down 9.1%, 234,314, Down 9.3%
• China, 14,181, Up 21.3%, 122,712, Up 20.0%
• Japan, 8,294, Down 6.6%, 87,735, Up 11.9%
• South Korea, 5,858, Up 3.8%, 67,309, Up 27.2%
• Germany, 9,309, Down 5.8%, 64,648, Up 0.1%
• Canada, 6,583, Down 2.1%, 48,942, Up 0.6%
• Total (all markets), 345,656, Up 1.3%, 2,525,044, Up 2.7%