Mon, 12 Oct 2009 11:52a.m.
A fall in the number of guest nights in short-term commercial accommodation in Auckland and Bay of Plenty in August was offset by rises in Otago and Canterbury.
Releasing the data today, Statistics New Zealand (SNZ) said the total number of guest nights for the country in August was 2 million, almost unchanged from a year earlier, and down 4 percent from August 2007.
In Auckland, guest nights were down about 32,000 or 8 percent from August 2008, while in Bay of Plenty numbers were down 10,000 or 6 percent.
In contrast, numbers were up 22,000 or 6 percent in Otago and up 14,000 or 4 percent in Canterbury.
International visitors accounted for 800,000 of the August guest nights, unchanged from a year earlier.
Auckland had 18,000 or 10 percent fewer international guest nights and Bay of Plenty 10,000 or 18 percent fewer, while Otago had a rise of 25,000 or 12 percent.
The 1.3m domestic guest nights were also unchanged from August 2008, with 15,000 or 6 percent fewer domestic guest nights in Auckland, while Canterbury had 11,000 or 6 percent more.
Of the five accommodation types in the SNZ survey, four had more guest nights than a year earlier, with motels up 7000 or 1 percent while backpackers/hostels fell 16,000 or 5 percent.
The occupancy rate, excluding caravan parks and camping grounds, was 40 percent in August, down from 42 percent a year earlier.
NZPA