New Zealand guest nights climbed to a three-year high in May as short term stays climbed across all commercial accommodation types.
Seasonally adjusted guest nights, which strips out seasonal and irregular movements, rose to 2.98 million in May, from 2.92 million the previous month and 2.77 million in May last year, according to Statistics New Zealand. Unadjusted guest nights gained 8.4 percent to 2.22 million in May from the same month a year earlier.
Statistics NZ said the underlying tend has seen guest nights rise for the last 24 months, with all trend series for guest nights rising and most at new highs. The gain in May reflects the 5.4 percent rise in short-term visitor arrivals to a record 161,400, boosted by visitors from the US and Japan arrived. The rise in guest nights reflects the 5.4 percent increase in short-term visitor arrivals to 161,400, a record for a May month, helped by more visitors from the US and Japan.
Guest nights at backpackers rose 3.7 percent in May from the previous month, to a seasonally adjusted 413,000 guest nights. Hotels/resorts recorded 1.7 percent gain, to 1.05 million while motels/motor inns/apartments rose 1.9 percent to 955,000 and holiday parks rose 1.4 percent to 572,000.
Domestic visitor guest nights rose 3.9 percent from the previous month to a seasonally adjusted 1.8 million, while international visitor guest nights slipped 0.3 percent in May to 1.2 million.
Unadjusted guest nights rose across all regions in the year except for Wellington which recorded a 5.2 percent drop in May compared to the same month a year earlier. Waikato reported the biggest gain, up 14.2 percent, with Auckland rising 6.3 percent and Canterbury up 1.3 percent from a year earlier.
(BusinessDesk)