Guest nights rise in June

Total guest nights, after seasonal adjustment, rose 4.0 percent in June 2012 compared with May 2012, Statistics New Zealand said today. This followed a rise of 3.2 percent in May 2012.

"Domestic guest nights drove the overall increase, with international guest nights rising to a lesser extent," industry and labour statistics manager Blair Cardno said. "Most of the national rise occurred in the North Island, particularly in Auckland, with hotels showing a strong increase."

Monthly movements for June 2012, after removing seasonal variation, were:

• Domestic guest nights rose 8.8 percent, while international guest nights rose 3.9 percent.
• North Island guest nights rose 6.6 percent, while South Island guest nights rose 1.9 percent.
• Guest nights rose for all accommodation types, but particularly for hotels.

National trends for domestic and international guest nights show moderate rises for recent months, but are subject to revision when upcoming months are added to the time-series.

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, see the Accommodation Survey: June 2012; for visitor numbers, see International Travel and Migration.