South Island leads guest nights increase

South Island guest nights (after removing seasonal variation) rose 3.7 percent in February 2013, Statistics New Zealand said today. This follows a fall of 5.6 percent in January.

“The South Island led the increase in guest nights in February, although the trend for guest nights in that area remained flat,” industry and labour statistics manager Blair Cardno said. “Guest nights for the North Island, as well as international and domestic guest nights, also increased this month.”

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

• New Zealand guest nights rose 2.3 percent, following a fall of 4.1 percent.
• North Island guest nights rose 1.5 percent, following a fall of 3.1 percent.
• International guest nights rose 3.0 percent, and domestic guest nights rose 2.0 percent.  
• Guest nights rose for all accommodation types.

 

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: February 2013; for visitor numbers, see International Travel and Migration: February 2013.