Guest nights up in October

New Zealand guest nights (after removing seasonal variation) rose 4.1 percent in October 2012 compared with September 2012, Statistics New Zealand said today. This follows a fall of 1.4 percent in September.

“Guest nights were up in both the North and South islands,” industry and labour statistics manager Blair Cardno said. “The change was mostly caused by more guest nights in the Auckland and Otago regions.”

Monthly movements for October 2012 (after removing seasonal variation) were:

• New Zealand guest nights rose 4.1 percent, following a fall of 1.4 percent in September.
• International guest nights rose 10.3 percent, and domestic guest nights rose 2.6 percent.
• North Island guest nights rose 3.4 percent, and South Island guest nights rose 4.3 percent. 
• Guest nights for all accommodation types rose.

 

The national trend for guest nights appears to be flat in recent months. The trend for South Island guest nights appears to be slowly rising, while the North Island guest nights trend remains below its highest-ever peak in August 2011. Trend movements can change when future 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: October 2012; for visitor numbers, see International Travel and Migration.