Guest nights fall in January

Total guest nights in short-term commercial accommodation fell 183,000 to 4.2 million in January 2012, compared with January 2011, Statistics New Zealand said today. Guest nights fell in both the North and South islands.

"Canterbury had the largest regional decrease, due to the ongoing impact of the Canterbury earthquakes," industry and labour statistics manager Blair Cardno said. "Otago had the largest rise, due to an increase in Kiwi visitors. This is only the second time in the past 18 months that Auckland has not had the largest month-on-month regional increase, and both of these times Otago took the top spot."

South Island guest nights fell 5.5 percent from January 2011, the 18th consecutive monthly fall. North Island guest nights also fell, down 3.3 percent. Canterbury again recorded the largest regional decrease (down 19 percent), especially in international guest nights. Otago had the largest increase and was the only South Island region to record a rise. This increase was wholly due to domestic rather than international visitors.

The Accommodation Survey records guests staying in hotels, motels, backpacker accommodation, and holiday parks in New Zealand each month. The survey does not include visitors staying on cruise ships and in private dwellings.

For more information on monthly accommodation statistics, see the Accommodation Survey: January 2012; for visitor numbers, see International Travel and Migration.