Quake-hit Canterbury key factor in guest night fall
National guest night numbers fell 1.5 percent in February from a year earlier, driven by a sharp fall in Canterbury which was hit by a devastating earthquake.
Hot Topic
EARNINGS
National guest night numbers fell 1.5 percent in February from a year earlier, driven by a sharp fall in Canterbury which was hit by a devastating earthquake.
Figures from Statistics New Zealand (SNZ) today put the number of guest nights in short term commercial accommodation nationwide in February at 3.3 million. While down 1.5 percent from a year earlier, the figure was similar to February 2009.
The number of guest nights by international visitors fell 4 percent in February to 1.6m for the country as a whole. Canterbury, where the fatal earthquake struck on February 22, recorded a fall of 25 percent or 77,000 guest nights. Northland was down 13,000 or 13 percent in international guest nights, while Otago was up 19,000 or 6.7 percent.
Guest nights by domestic visitors were up 1 percent to 1.7m nationwide, with Auckland up 24,000 or 9 percent.
SNZ noted that figures for Canterbury should be used with caution, as response rates in the region were significantly lower than the national response rate, due to the earthquake, requiring a higher level of imputation.
Guest nights in backpacker accommodation were down 16,000 or 3.3 percent in February from a year earlier, holiday parks had a fall of 15,000 or 2.1 percent, while hotels and motels both dropped 0.9 percent or 10,000.
The occupancy rate in February was 64 percent, excluding holiday parks. That was down 0.4 percentage points from a year earlier.
NZPA
Mon, 02 May 2011
Mon, 02 May 2011
© All content copyright NBR. Do not reproduce in any form without permission, even if you have a paid subscription.
Quake-hit Canterbury key factor in guest night fall
14224