Domestic guest nights up in November

Total guest nights were up 2.0 percent in November 2010 compared with November 2009, Statistics New Zealand said today. The increase was caused by a rise in domestic guest nights (up 6.6 percent), while international guest nights decreased 3.1 percent.

Although there was an overall increase, only five of the 12 regions had more guest nights in November 2010 than in the previous November. "Auckland had by far the largest increase, due mostly to domestic guests staying in hotels," business statistics manager Kathy Connolly said.

Decreases were recorded for all South Island regions other than Canterbury. These decreases were almost entirely due to fewer international guest nights throughout the South Island. The September 2010 earthquake and subsequent aftershocks continued to contribute to these decreases. However, Canterbury's decrease in international guest nights was more than offset by its increase in domestic guest nights.

Hotels had a rise of 6.7 percent in guest nights, contributing nearly all of the overall increase in November 2010. Backpacker accommodation had only a small increase while holiday parks and motels had decreases. Of the four accommodation types, hotels had the highest occupancy rate (64 percent) and also the largest share of total guest nights (38 percent).

The Accommodation Survey records guests staying in hotels, motels, backpacker accommodation, and holiday parks in New Zealand each month.