Whakapapa Village revealed as New Zealand's top trending winter destination in 2020 on Booking.com

  • 25/09/2020
Whakapapa Village revealed as New Zealand's top trending winter destination in 2020 on Booking.com .
New Zealanders travelled to winter tourist hotspots this year instead of escaping on warmer holidays abroad. Photo credit: Getty

With international travel almost entirely off-limits due to the COVID-19 pandemic, New Zealanders have taken to holidaying around Aotearoa in record numbers.

Travel reservation website Booking.com has released data on how Kiwis used it for their winter holidays this year.

It says that 82 percent of the total distance travelled by New Zealanders in the months of June, July and August 2020 was within Aotearoa, compared to only 16 percent during the same period of 2019.

Booking.com also released a top ten list of the highest trending winter holiday destinations in Aotearoa.

To calculate the list, Booking.com mapped out the top 100 most booked New Zealand destinations, sorted by the year-on-year difference in reservations made between June and August 2020 compared to the same period in 2019.

While the ever-popular Queenstown was recently heralded by Expedia as being the hottest destination for the upcoming school holiday period, it's a North Island locale that's claimed Booking.com's top spot.

Top 10 trending NZ destinations from June 1 - August 31 via Booking.com:

  1. Whakapapa Village
  2. Mount Cook Village
  3. Methven
  4. Arthur's Pass
  5. Lake Tekapo
  6. Ohakune
  7. National Park
  8. Parakai
  9. Opononi
  10. Arrowtown

"The winter of 2020 proved that the happiness travel can bring is not simply measured in kilometres," says Todd Lacey, Booking.com's area manager for New Zealand.

"With international tourists out, a classic Kiwiana holiday is more relaxing than ever. From epic ski villages to beach baches, what better time to rediscover Aotearoa."

The data found that New Zealanders were more likely to stay in a chalet in 2020 than in 2019.