Guest nights fall 1.7% in October

Friday 10th December 2010

Guest nights in short term commercial accommodation fell 1.7% in October from a year earlier to 2.5 million, due to a 5.7% fall in guest nights by international visitors.

Statistics New Zealand (SNZ) figures show Canterbury, which continued to be hit by aftershocks following an earthquake in early September, was hardest hit by the decline.

Overall guest nights in Canterbury fell 18,000 or 4.2% from a year earlier, with international nights in the region falling 27,000 or 14.4% while domestic nights in the region rose 10,000 or 4.1%.

For the country as a whole, international guest nights fell by 56,000 or 5.7% to 900,000, while domestic guest nights rose 13,000 or 0.9% to 1.6m.

Wellington had a fall of 10,000 or 4.2% in guest nights, with domestic guest nights down 8000. West Coast was also down 10,000 or 9.9%, with international guest nights down 13,000 or 26.5% while domestic nights in the region rose 4000 or 8.3%.

Auckland had the largest gain, with an increase of 9000 or 1.8% in guest nights, gaining 7000 or 3.8% from international guests.

Motels recorded 47,000 or 5.4% fewer guest nights in October from a year earlier, with backpackers recording 19,000 or 5.7% fewer, and holiday parks with 16,000 or 3.8% fewer.

For the fourth consecutive month, hotels had the only increase, up 39,000 (4.3%), SNZ said.

Excluding holiday parks, the occupancy rate in October was 46.4%, up 0.2 percentage points from a year earlier.

NZPA

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