Statistics New Zealand have released the Accommodation Survey for March 2009.The figures do not make encouraging reading, however any comparison with last year must be kept in context with the timing of the Easter holidays. Last year these occurred in March and this year in April.
The "highlights" are as follows:
Total guest nights in short-term commercial accommodation have dropped by 11 percent compared with March 2008.
In March 2009, all 12 regions recorded fewer guest nights than in March 2008, with the following regions showing the largest decreases:
• Canterbury (down 64,000 or 11 percent)
• Otago (down 60,000 or 13 percent)
• Bay of Plenty (down 49,000 or 15 percent)
International guest nights were 11 percent lower and domestic guest nights were 10 percent lower.
Guest nights in March 2009 decreased for all five accommodation types compared with March 2008. The accommodation types showing the largest decreases were:
• Caravan parks/camping grounds, down 183,000 (24 percent)
• Motels, down 121,000 (10 percent)
• Hotels, down 54,000 (5 percent).
In March 2009, hotels had the largest share of total guest nights (33 percent), followed by motels (32 percent) and caravan parks/camping grounds (18 percent).
Hotels had the highest occupancy rate (64 percent) of all the accommodation types, followed by motels (59 percent) and backpackers/hostels (55 percent).
For the motel sector, it is difficult to second-guess how many lost guest nights in March 2009 can be attributed to Easter falling later this year in April.
The key statistic is the relatively large 10% reduction in domestic guest nights suffered in March 2009. It will be hoped that most of this will be countered in April's stats that will take into account Kiwis staying in motels over Easter.
Source: Click HERE
