Auckland lifts guest nights

Auckland lifts guest nights

National guest nights rose 0.9 percent in May 2011 compared with May 2010, Statistics New Zealand said today. This rise follows falls in each of the five previous months.

"Although Canterbury continues to show a large drop in guest nights because of earthquakes, in May this was more than offset by a large rise in Auckland," industry and labour statistics manager Louise Holmes- Oliver said. "Auckland had the largest regional rise, for the 10th consecutive month, due mainly to increased domestic guest nights in hotels."

Led by Auckland, North Island guest nights rose 5.9 percent in May 2011 compared with May 2010. After Auckland (up 14 percent), the largest contributor to the rise was Wellington (up 7.2 percent). Domestic guest nights rose 8.2 percent in the North Island, while international guest nights rose 1.5 percent.

Canterbury (down 16 percent) accounted for the bulk of the 7.3 percent fall in South Island guest nights. International guest nights fell 19 percent in the South Island, attributable mainly to the Canterbury earthquakes, while domestic guest nights rose 2.8 percent. Canterbury's accommodation capacity was 22 percent lower, with many hotels and backpacker establishments put out of operation by the earthquakes.

The trend for the number of guest nights, which presents a longer-term picture, shows a decline in the South Island for the latest 15 months and a moderate rise in the North Island for the latest 12 months.

Two of the four accommodation types had more guest nights in May 2011 than in May 2010. Increases were recorded for holiday parks (up 15 percent) and motels (up 5.1 percent), while decreases were recorded for hotels (down 4.7 percent) and backpacker accommodation (down 4.3 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: May 2011.

AccommodationSurveyMay11 (pdf)

Geoff Bascand Government Statistician

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