While it is pleasing that total guest nights in November 2010 have increased by 2 percent compared with November 2009, it is noted that the hotel sector has hogged almost all of this increase.
In the battle of the two islands, the North Island recorded a 5.1 percent increase in guest nights while the South Island achieved a 2.1 percent decrease in November 2010 compared to November 2009.
Five out of the 12 regions recorded more guest nights in November 2010 than in November 2009.
The regions showing the largest increases were:
- Auckland, up 11.7 percent
- Bay of Plenty, up 8.6 percent.
- Otago, down 3.5 percent
- Southland, down 9.9 percent
- Wellington, down 3.5 percent.
It was good to see Kiwis hitting the road again with domestic guest nights recording an increase of 6.6 percent in November 2010 compared with November 2009.
The hotel sector's stellar performance continues by once again solidifying their dominance with an increase in guest nights for the fifth consecutive month. Hotels recorded an impressive 6.7 percent increase in guest nights in November 2010 compared to November 2009.
Backpackers recorded a modest 0.4 percent increase with the two other accommodation types in the survey all recording decreases in November 2010:
- Holiday parks, down 2.0 percent
- Motels down 0.7 percent.
While there are pockets of strong motel businesses, there is a worrying trend that the motel sector as a whole appears to be rapidly loosing market share.
December accommodation survey results will allow us to reflect on trade for the entire year, however it is January's results that we are looking forward to. January is a critical month where the majority of accommodation operators fill their tanks and set themselves up for the year ahead. The 6-week time lag from the end of the survey month for results to be collated will be a frustrating wait.
With over half of January's trade now behind us, we can make an educated guess as to what the results may be...we hope we will be proven wrong.
