Wellington Winter Wonderland

August Surge Completes Record Winter for Capital

A near 40% surge in commercial guest nights spent in the capital in August has resulted in Wellington’s busiest winter ever.

Commercial Accommodation Monitor figures released today show guest nights spent in the Wellington region increased 21% across the June-August quarter to 502,754. This was 18% ahead of the previously busiest winter period in 2009 and represented a 55% increase across the past decade.

Positively Wellington Tourism (PWT) Chief Executive David Perks said the Statistics New Zealand figures – which take in all types of commercial accommodation – reflected the tourism organisation’s own monitoring of its city hotel partners.

“The August growth was in large part due to an earlier start to the Brancott Estate WOW Awards Show, while the third serving of Visa Wellington On a Plate and continued growth in the Australian visitor market would also have been factors.

“This shows us not just how valuable events are to our economy, but how pivotal it is to strategically schedule events and to build a suite of festivals, shows, concerts and matches that attract different audiences that benefit a range of businesses.”

The results showed that in the face of adversity, opportunities can be found and converted, Mr Perks said.
“Nationally the tourism industry is pretty challenged at the moment and Wellington hasn’t been buffered from that; we’ve had to work really hard for this. And by ‘we’, I don’t mean Positively Wellington Tourism – I mean Wellington Inc; the city’s hoteliers, attractions, restaurateurs, airlines, transport operators, Wellington City Council’s Events team and many more have all played a hand and worked together to make this happen.”

The challenge now was to build summer visitation to the capital.

“One of the key drivers of the winter growth, was the 3 Nights for Two hotel campaign so we’re bringing that back for a December/January booking period and extending the offer to other business sectors. We’ve got a great platform to work off with Unveiled at Te Papa opening in December, another sell out NZ International Sevens, and then NZ International Arts Festival running through February and March. We’re confident we can keep the city’s guest night numbers well in the black.”