Queenstown records highest ever February guest nights

Thursday, 11 April 2013, 3:00 pm
Press Release: Destination Queenstown

11 April 2013

Queenstown records highest ever February guest nights

February was a scorcher of a month for Queenstown according to Statistics New Zealand’s latest Commercial Accommodation Monitor (CAM) with the resort recording its highest ever February as well the country’s largest increase in guest nights.

Released today, the CAM shows the Wakatipu was a hotspot for summer visitors with an extra 32,185 nights recorded during the month, up 14.2 percent to 258,742 guest nights* compared with February 2012.

International guest nights were up 15.6 percent to 182,234, accounting for 70.4 percent of all guest nights in the region, and domestic guest nights rose 11 percent to 76,508 compared to the same period last year.

The CAM also revealed that hotels enjoyed a 6 percent guest night increase on last February and an improved occupancy level of 78.9 percent.

A full year comparison ending February 2013 showed a 6.5 percent overall guest night increase in the region.

Destination Queenstown CEO Graham Budd said the result was very pleasing and wrapped up a strong summer season.

“We were fortunate to have a good summer with solid growth in guest nights from December to February.

“However it’s important to factor Chinese New Year visitors into these strong February figures as this key Chinese holiday fell in January last year,” he said.

“We also saw some really strong results from our digital and print campaign which promoted spring and summer travel to Kiwis and Aussies. During September and October we drove an increase of around 120% in web traffic, so it’s very rewarding to see that engagement translate into actual visitors to the region over the summer months.”

Nationally, CAM figures showed that New Zealand guest nights were up 1.5 percent overall for February with an increase of 49,000 nights.

The February 2013 Commercial Accommodation Monitor report for Queenstown is available on the Destination Queenstown website: http://www.queenstownnz.co.nz/Media/Statistics2_md/.

* Commercial guest nights are defined as one guest staying for one night in the resort.

ENDS

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