International guest nights continue to fall

Total guest nights spent in short-term commercial accommodation were 3.1 million in March 2012, Statistics New Zealand said today. This is a fall of 0.8 percent compared with March 2011. The fall resulted from a 3.6 percent drop in international guest nights. International guest nights have fallen for the last five months, compared with the same month of the previous year.

"International guest nights fell in both main islands, with Northland and Otago showing the largest regional falls," industry and labour statistics manager Blair Cardno said. "Domestic guest nights rose in the North Island, but were offset by a fall in international guest nights."

South Island guest nights fell 2.3 percent compared with March 2011, while North Island guest nights rose just 0.2 percent. Bay of Plenty and Northland had the largest decreases of any region, while Auckland had the largest increase. The trend for South Island guest nights continues to decline, with North Island and national guest nights also showing provisional declines.

Nationally, three of the four accommodation types had fewer guest nights. Hotel guest nights rose, but from a level that was reduced in 2011 due to the Canterbury earthquakes. Canterbury's figures for hotel and backpacker accommodation capacity and international guest nights remain below their pre-earthquake levels.

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: March 2012; for visitor numbers, see International Travel and Migration.