Overall it's good news with total guest nights in short-term commercial accommodation for September 2009 up by 3 percent compared to September last year.
The positive results achieved in September 2009 must be kept in perspective by being compared with last year's recessionary low base. It is noted that guest nights in September 2009 are 2 percent down when compared to September 2007.
When compared with September 2008, guest nights in the North Island were up 2 percent and the South Island up 4 percent. Similar to last month, regions that are on the main skiing routes seemed to return better results than those regions that are not. Kiwi operators have appreciated the unintended consequences of K Rudd's Australian stimulus package - a gift that keeps on giving!
Eleven of the 12 regions recorded more guest nights in September 2009 compared with September 2008, with the following regions showing the largest increases:
- Otago, up 19,000 (6 percent)
- Canterbury, up 11,000 (3 percent)
- Bay of Plenty, up 10,000 (5 percent).
Largely thanks to our Ozzie cousins, international visitors boosted overall guest nights in September 2009 with an increase of 8 percent compared with September 2008.
Domestic guest nights were not as strong by increasing by less than 1 percent in September 2009 compared with September 2008.
It is noted that the 'hosted' accommodation group is no longer monitored in the monthly Accommodation Survey. It is pleasing that in September 2009, all four of the remaining accommodation types enjoyed more guest nights than in September 2008:
- Hotels, up 4 percent
- Backpackers, up 6 percent
- Motels, up 2 percent
- Holiday parks, up 1 percent.
In September 2009, hotels had the highest occupancy rate (51 percent), followed by motels (44 percent), and backpackers (33 percent).
Source: Click HERE
