Motels Take Another Hit

January guest nights have been released by Statistics NZ.

Motels have taken another hit by losing the highest number of comparable guest nights of any other accommodation type.

In January 2009, guest nights decreased for four of the five accommodation types compared with January 2008:

Motels, down 63,000 (5 percent)
Hotels, down 53,000 (5 percent)
Caravan parks/camping grounds, down 47,000 (3 percent)
Hosted, down 9,000 (12 percent)
Backpackers/hostels increased by 19,000 (4 percent).

In January 2009, caravan parks/camping grounds had the largest share of total guest nights (36 percent), followed by motels (27 percent) and hotels (23 percent).

12 March 2009

Press Release - Statistics New Zealand

Total guest nights in short-term commercial accommodation in January 2009 were 3 percent lower than in January 2008, Statistics New Zealand said today. This was mainly due to a 7 percent decrease in international guest nights. Domestic guest nights were down 1 percent over the same period.

The trend series for total guest nights has been decreasing since October 2007, after increasing since January 2006.

Nine of the 12 regions had fewer guest nights, with Northland, Auckland and Canterbury showing the largest decreases. Eight regions had fewer international guest nights, and six regions had fewer domestic guest nights.

Guest nights decreased in four of the five accommodation types in January 2009 compared with January 2008. Motels had the largest decrease, while backpackers/hostels recorded the only increase.

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