International guest nights down, particularly in Canterbury

Guest nights fell 3.7 percent in April 2011 compared with April 2010, Statistics New Zealand said today. As in March 2011, the fall in guest nights is primarily due to the Christchurch earthquake on 22 February 2011.

"International guest nights have been strongly affected by the earthquakes, with Canterbury showing a drop of 41 percent," business statistics manager Louise Holmes-Oliver said. "With falls in all South Island regions, international guest nights fell 10 percent at the national level. This more than outweighed a small rise in domestic guest nights."

All five South Island regions had fewer guest nights in April 2011 than in April 2010, with Canterbury (down 28 percent) accounting for the bulk of the fall. International guest nights made up two-thirds of the fall in Canterbury. Canterbury's accommodation capacity is down by 21 percent, with hotels and backpacker accommodation being hardest hit.

North Island guest nights rose 3.2 percent, with Auckland (up 8.6 percent) and Waikato (up 6.6 percent) making the largest contributions to this increase. This is the ninth consecutive month in which Auckland has recorded the main regional rise, due largely to increased domestic guest nights in hotels.

Three of the four accommodation types had fewer guest nights in April 2011 than in April 2010, with Canterbury contributing most of each decrease. Hotels and holiday parks had the largest decreases, down 9.3 percent and 6.0 percent, respectively. Guest nights in motels increased, up 3.0 percent.

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

For more information on monthly accommodation statistics, please see the Accommodation Survey: April 2011.

Geoff Bascand 23 June 2011

Government Statistician