Guest nights down in January

New Zealand guest nights (after removing seasonal variation) fell 4.1 percent in January 2013 compared with December 2012, Statistics New Zealand said today. This follows a rise of 3.0 percent in December.

“This month, we saw falls in domestic and international guest nights, as well as in guest nights for both main islands,” industry and labour statistics manager Blair Cardno said. "However, the long-term trend for national guest nights continues to rise."

Monthly movements for January 2013 (after removing seasonal variation) were: 

• International guest nights fell 4.9 percent, and domestic guest nights fell 4.0 percent.
• South Island guest nights fell 5.6 percent, and North Island guest nights fell 3.1 percent. 
• Guest nights fell for all accommodation types except backpacker accommodation.

The national trend for guest nights has been rising since April 2012. The trend for South Island guest nights has been flat for more than a year, while the North Island guest nights trend has been rising since May 2012. Trend movements can change when future months are added to the time series.

The Accommodation Survey records the number of 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: January 2013; for visitor numbers, see International Travel and Migration: January 2013.