Monday 10 December, 2012

Weekend Events Drive Strong November for Capital

Weekend rooms sold in Positively Wellington Tourism’s (PWT) partner hotels increased by almost 13% in November, again proving the importance of events to the city’s economy.

PWT Chief Executive David Perks says the regional tourism organisation’s monthly Hotel Monitor shows overall occupancy across November increased 2% to an average of 84.9%, with weekend rooms sold increasing 12.8%. The average dollar rate for November rose by $4.95.

“November saw back-to-back sell out concerts from Ben Harper and Mumford & Sons, followed by three consecutive weekends of major performance events at St James Theatre,” Mr Perks says. “This line-up will certainly have played a big role in November’s strong growth in weekend room sales.”

Positively Wellington Venues Chief Executive Glenys Coughlan says tickets to the Wellington exclusive of the diamond anniversary tour of The Mousetrap sold “exceptionally well”, with an estimated 28% of the audience coming from outside of the Wellington region.

Weekday growth - up 2.3% - was more modest for the month, but had finished on a high. Average occupancy was at 99.7% on the night of the world premiere of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and 95% from Monday 26 – Thursday 29 November, Mr Perks says.

The events calendar for 2013 is already starting to look strong, with a series of big name concerts throughout the summer, Game Masters running through until April, the AFL premiership match on ANZAC Day, an Andy Warhol exhibition at Te Papa in June, an All Blacks vs Wallabies test and the fifth course of Visa Wellington On a Plate in August, and the 25th year of the World of WearableArt™ Awards Show.

Right now, though, the challenge is to crack summer, Mr Perks says.

“January in particular is a trouble spot for Wellington’s tourism industry, so we’re currently working through ideas on how to work on that in both the short and long term.”

ENDS…/

NOTES TO EDITORS

Positively Wellington Tourism (PWT)

PWT is the regional tourism organisation for Wellington. It is a council-controlled organisation primarily funded by Wellington City Council through the Downtown Levy, a targeted rate paid by commercial ratepayers in downtown Wellington.

Wellington Tourism statistics

• Visitors spend over $2600 in the Wellington region per minute - $1.4 billion every year. (Source: Ministry of Economic Development Regional Tourism Data).

• Over four million visits are made to Wellington every year: 750,000 international and over 3.4 million domestic. (Source: Ministry of Economic Development Regional Tourism Data).

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