A record number of visitors came to the country last year, new figures from Statistics New Zealand reveal.

By the end of the year just over two million tourists had come into the country, up two percent from December 2006.

In the last decade, visitor numbers had increased by almost one million visitors.

However Tourism New Zealand chief executive George Hickton said visitor numbers had softened towards the end of the year, largely because of the economic situation overseas .

Arrivals from the United Kingdom and the United States were showing some strain from slowing domestic house prices, rising fuel costs and higher debt servicing levels.

The figures showed Air New Zealand's direct flights to Vancouver, launched in November last year, had boosted numbers from Canada with arrivals up 15.4 percent in December and up 4.0 percent for the year as a whole.

But New Zealand's high dollar was making it expensive for Japanese tourists to travel here.

However visitors from Australia were still keen to come over with visitor numbers up 5.2 percent for the year.