Overseas visitors boost hotel guest nights in July

Monday 13th September 2010

New Zealand’s hotels recorded a 4% increase in overnight stays in July, boosted by more international visitors to the Otago and Bay of Plenty regions.

International guest nights in July rose 2% compared to the same month in 2009, and rose 4% when compared to the year before that.

The Otago region recorded the biggest increase of international visitors, up 23,000 or 10%, followed by Bay of Plenty, up 7,000 or 12%, according to Statistics New Zealand’s monthly accommodation survey.

“The trend in total guest nights has been decreasing since October 2009, but appears to have flattened in recent months,” the department said.

“The recent decreases in the trend should be treated with caution.”

Lower-end accommodation suffered the sharpest declines, with motels, backpackers and holiday parks all seeing a 2% decline in guest nights in July.

Total guest nights for the months were flat, up just 0.2% compared to the previous period.

Domestic visitors contributed 1.4 million overnight stays in July, 1% down from 2009, but still 3% more than in 2008.

Businesswire.co.nz

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