Accommodation Survey: December 2009

Total guest nights

Total guest nights in short-term commercial accommodation were 3.2 million in December 2009, a 4 percent increase compared with December 2008, and a 2 percent increase compared with December 2007.

The trend has been increasing in 2009, after a decline in 2008. The trend level is now 3 percent higher than the previous low in December 2008 but similar to the December 2007 high.

 

For the 2009 year, total guest nights were 32.0 million and were 1 percent lower than total guest nights in the 2008 year.

Guest nights by island

Guest nights in the North Island were 1.8 million in December 2009, a 3 percent increase compared with December 2008, and similar to December 2007.

The trend for North Island guest nights has increased slightly during 2009 and is now 1 percent higher than the previous low in November 2008 but still 3 percent lower than the previous high in November 2007.

 

For the 2009 year, guest nights in the North Island were 18.5 million and were 2 percent lower than in 2008.

Guest nights in the South Island were 1.4 million in December 2009, a 6 percent increase compared with December 2008 and 3 percent higher than in December 2007.

The trend in South Island guest nights has been increasing strongly in 2009 after declining in 2008. The trend level is 6 percent higher than the previous low in December 2008, and is now 2 percent higher than the recent high in October 2007.

 

For the 2009 year, guest nights in the South Island were 13.5 million, similar to the 13.6 million guest nights recorded in 2008.

Guest nights by region

Eleven of the 12 regions recorded more guest nights in December 2009 than in December 2008. The regions showing the largest increases were:

• Otago, up 39,000 (10 percent)
• Canterbury, up 25,000 (5 percent)
• Bay of Plenty, up 23,000 (7 percent)
• Northland, up 16,000 (9 percent)
• Taranaki/Manawatu-Wanganui, up 11,000 (8 percent).

The only region with a decrease in guest nights was Hawke's Bay/Gisborne, down 12,000 (8 percent).

For the 2009 year, 10 of the 12 regions had fewer guest nights than in 2008, led by Auckland, down 221,000 (4 percent), and Bay of Plenty, down 91,000 (3 percent).

The only regions with more guest nights in 2009 than in 2008 were Otago, up 70,000 (2 percent), and Waikato, up 6,000 (less than 1 percent).

Origin of guests

International visitors contributed 1.4 million guest nights in December 2009, an increase of 90,000 (7 percent) from December 2008. These visitors provided 38 percent of total guest nights in the North Island and 54 percent of those in the South Island.

Ten of the twelve regions showed an increase in international guest nights, led by:

• Otago, up 23,000 (10 percent)
• Auckland, up 18,000 (8 percent).

The only two regions to show a decrease were Hawke's Bay/Gisborne, down 6,000 (14 percent) and Taranaki/Manawatu-Wanganui, down 3,000 (10 percent).

 

Domestic guest nights numbered 1.8 million, an increase of 47,000 (3 percent) from December 2008. Eight of the 12 regions recorded higher domestic guest nights in December 2009 than in December 2008.

The regions recording the largest increases in domestic guest nights were:

• Otago, up 16,000 (9 percent)
• Taranaki/Manawatu-Wanganui, up 14,000 (14 percent) .

The Auckland region had the largest decrease, down 13,000 guest nights (5 percent), followed by Hawke's Bay/Gisborne, down 6000 (6 percent).

   

For the 2009 year, international guest nights fell 3 percent compared with 2008 and contributed 81 percent of the fall in total guest nights. Eight of the 12 regions had lower international guest nights, led by Auckland, down 216,000 (8 percent), and Bay of Plenty, down 77,000 (7 percent).

The Waikato region had the biggest increase in international guest nights, up 37,000 (5 percent), followed by Otago, up 19,000 (1 percent).

In 2009, domestic guest nights fell less than 1 percent from 2008 with 7 of the 12 regions showing fewer domestic guest nights than the previous year. The following regions had the largest decreases:

• Nelson/Marlborough/Tasman, down 61,000 (5 percent)
• Canterbury, down 49,000 (2 percent)
• Waikato, down 31,000 (2 percent).

The Otago region had the largest increase in domestic guest nights, up 51,000 (3 percent), followed by the West Coast, up 28,000 (6 percent).

Comparison with short-term overseas visitor arrival statistics

International Travel and Migration: December 2009 shows that short-term overseas visitor arrivals to New Zealand in December 2009 were up 19,100 (6 percent) from December 2008. This follows an increase of 600 (less than 1 percent) in November 2009 compared with November 2008.

In December 2009 compared with December 2008, there were more people visiting friends and relatives, up 9,600 (7 percent), more visitors on holiday, up 9,400 (6 percent), and more here on business, up 1,600 (11 percent).

New Zealand resident short-term departures for December 2009 were down 2,800 (1 percent) from December 2008. 

Guest nights by accommodation type

In December 2009, all four accommodation types had more guest nights than in December 2008:

• hotels, up 66,000 (8 percent)
• holiday parks, up 28,000 (3 percent)
• backpackers, up 24,000 (5 percent)
• motels, up 19,000 (2 percent).

 

In December 2009, hotels had the largest share of total guest nights (29.0 percent), followed by motels (28.8 percent), and holiday parks (28.0 percent).

For the December 2009 year, three of the four accommodation types recorded fewer guest nights than in 2008. Motels had the largest decrease, down 304,000 (3 percent), followed by hotels, down 111,000 (1 percent), and holiday parks, down 105,000 (2 percent).

Backpackers had the only increase in guest nights over the year, up 53,000 (1 percent). The trend in backpacker guest nights is now 6 percent higher than a year ago.

 

Hotels had the largest share of total guest nights (33 percent) for the 2009 year, followed by motels (32 percent).

Occupancy rate

Excluding holiday parks, the occupancy rate in December 2009 was 49 percent, compared with 48 percent in December 2008. Accommodation capacity, excluding holiday parks, was 2 percent above the December 2008 level.

Hotels had the highest occupancy rate (53 percent) of all the accommodation types in December 2009, followed by backpackers (48 percent), and motels (47 percent).

Excluding the holiday parks category, ten of the twelve regions had higher occupancy rates in December 2009 than in December 2008.

The regions with the highest occupancy rates were:

• Auckland (57 percent)
• Otago (52 percent)
• Bay of Plenty (51 percent).

 

Response rates

 

When respondents do not answer questions in this survey, Statistics New Zealand estimates the missing information based on data from similar establishments in the same or similar regions. For more information, please see the 'Technical notes' section or contact Statistics NZ.

Survey change

From the September 2009 survey month, the following changes have been implemented for the Accommodation Survey:

• the 'hosted' accommodation group has been removed from the survey
• regional boundaries have been updated.

We have also updated data for the previous months based on the new regional boundaries and with the 'hosted' accommodation type removed. These updates will allow for continued time series comparison.

Two classifications have been renamed:

• 'backpackers/hostels' has been renamed 'backpackers'
• 'caravan parks/camping grounds' has been renamed 'holiday parks'.

However, the coverage remains unchanged.

These changes are the result of a joint review conducted by Statistics NZ and the Ministry of Tourism, which aimed to balance the need for high quality information against the need to reduce respondent load.

Statistics NZ would like to thank all respondents for participating in the Accommodation Survey. Their commitment and support enables us to produce an accurate picture of the evolving New Zealand economy.

Survey sponsorship

The Accommodation Survey is a monthly survey undertaken by Statistics NZ and sponsored by the Ministry of Tourism.

For technical information contact: 
Brylee Wayman or Christine Sadler
Christchurch 03 964 8700
Email: info@stats.govt.nz

Next release ...

Accommodation Survey: January 2010 will be released on 12 March 2010.