DHAKA: New Zealand’s immigration website has said it saw a surge in traffic, as the results of the US election came in.
Immigration New Zealand (INZ) said its website received 56,300 visits in a 24 hour period, an increase of almost 2,500%. The site has a daily average of 2,300 visits.
Canada's immigration website also received a high amount of traffic on Wednesday, causing it to crash, reports BBC.
Donald Trump secured a surprise victory in the presidential election.
New Zealand Now’s website, which contains information about living, working, studying and investing in the country, also saw a similar spike in traffic.
“In the 24 hours up to 9am local time on Wednesday, NZ Now received 70,500 visits from the US compared to a usual daily average of 1,500 visits,” said INZ marketing manager Greg Forsythe in a statement to the BBC.
Online, some Americans expressed that their interest to move to New Zealand was a result of Trump’s victory.
But not everyone from the country seemed to welcome Americans with open arms.
Forsythe added that some 7,287 registrations had been received from Americans in the past 24 hours as compared to a normal amount of 3,000 registrations.
However, he added that these were purely “registrations of interest” and not visa applications.
BDST: 1745 HRS, NOV 10, 2016
AP/BD