Guest nights hit a record
Hospitality sector on a roll in year to Feb
New Zealand accommodation providers hosted a record number of guests in the year to the end of February. A record 39.6 million guest nights were spent in short-term commercial accommodation in the year ended February 2018, up 2.8 per cent on the same period a year earlier and more than any other 12-month period, Statistics New Zealand said.
International guest nights lifted 5 per cent to 17.4 million, making up 44 per cent of total guest nights, while domestic stays advanced 1.1 per cent to 22.2 million.
The country’s accommodation sector has been on a roll, helped by record l evels of tourism and migration, prompting a flurry of hotel developments throughout the country.
For the month of February, guest nights increased 2.1 per cent to 4 million from the same month a year earlier. International guest nights rose 6.6 per cent to 2.1 million, while domestic guest nights fell 2.4 per cent to 1.9 million, marking the first time in eight years that international guest numbers have surpassed domestic numbers. The statistics agency said international arrivals were boosted by guests visiting over Chinese New Year, which was in mid-February this year, compared with late January in 2017.
February guest nights lifted 6.6 per cent to 1.8 million in the South Island, but fell 1.4 per cent to 2.2 million in the North Island.
“International guest nights were up the most in the South Island, with large increases for nights spent in Christchurch, Queenstown-Lakes, Kaikoura, Southland, and Dunedin,” accommodation statistics manager Melissa McKenzie said. “Kaikoura’s increase, and to a lesser extent Christchurch’s, reflects recovery from the lower volume of guest nights that followed the November 2016 Kaikoura earthquake.”
“New Zealanders spent fewer nights in holiday park and motel accommodation than last February, possibly reflecting Kiwis delaying their travel plans to wait out cyclones Gita and Fehi,” she said. “Locals are typically more likely to change their plans at short notice than international guests.” Hotel stays increased 5.6 per cent to 1.3 million in February compared with the year earlier month, while motel stays increased 1.3 per cent to 1.2 million and holiday park stays edged up 0.6 per cent to 927,000. Backpacker stays fell 1.8 per cent to 541,000.
The occupancy rate across accommodation types lifted to 57.5 per cent from 57 per cent a year earlier. That’s the second highest rate in the history of the survey after January this year hit a record 58.7 per cent.
Hotel occupancy hit an all-time high of 81.8 per cent, while motel occupancy of 76.8 per cent was the highest since February 2017’s record 77.5 per cent. Meanwhile, backpacker occupancy levels slipped to 59.1 per cent from 59.4 per cent a year earlier and holiday park occupancy advanced to 30 per cent from 29.6 per cent a year earlier. —