Early Easter Affects April Accommodation

Total guest nights in short-term commercial accommodation decreased 4 percent in April 2008 compared with April 2007, Statistics New Zealand said today.

The earlier occurrence of the Easter holidays in March, rather than April, contributed to this decrease, although the exact effect cannot be measured.

When guest nights for March and April are combined, total guest nights in March and April 2008 were 2 percent higher than in March and April 2007.

International guest nights were down 6 percent in April 2008 from a year earlier, while domestic guest nights were down 2 percent.

In April 2008, guest nights for three of the five accommodation types decreased compared with April 2007.

Caravan parks/camping grounds had the largest decrease, down 18 percent which followed a 24 percent increase in March 2008. Motels also had a drop in guest nights in April, down 5 percent, while hotels had an increase, up 5 percent.

Among the 12 regions, Otago, Bay of Plenty and Waikato had the largest decreases in guest nights in April 2008 from April 2007. Wellington and Auckland were the only regions to show an increase.