NZ accommodation falls in January

Monday 12th March 2012

New Zealand’s hotels and motels reported fewer guest nights in January amid dwindling demand from foreigners, even as the nation enjoyed a record number of international visitors for that month.

Total guest nights fell 4.2 percent to 4.2 million in January, according to Statistics New Zealand. There were 1.57 million international guest nights that month, down 7.1 percent from January 2011, when short-term visitor arrivals climbed to 266,800, a record for a January month. Domestic guest nights fell 2.4 percent to 2.58 million.

Hotels bore the brunt of the downturn, falling 7.1 percent to 1.03 million guest nights in the month, followed by a 12 percent drop in backpackers to 476,000. Holiday park guest nights fell 4.5 percent to 1.47 million.

Motels bucked the trend, gaining 2.9 percent to 1.18 million, the first time more people stayed at motels than hotels since March last year.

Guest nights in the North Island fell 3.3 percent to 2.4 million in the first month-on-month decline since January last year, while South Island stays were down 5.5 percent to 1.8 million.

BusinessDesk.co.nz

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