Eleven of the country’s 12 regional areas reported a rise in guest nights in October, but in Auckland there was a decline of 6.3% in October, from a year ago.
While Otago’s percentage gain was in single digits, its motel and hotel guest nights alone increased the most, boosted by tourist hotspots Wanaka and Queenstown, Statistics New Zealand accommodation statistics manager Melissa McKenzie said.
"Good weather, an extended ski season, and more school holidays falling in October than last year, may have contributed to increases in guest nights across the country," Ms McKenzie said.
SNZ’s data is based on hotel, motel, backpackers and holiday park guest nights.
Taranaki, Manawatu and Whanganui were up respectively 15% and Southland up 20%.
More than half the national increase came from Canterbury, Otago, and the Bay of Plenty, where guest nights rose respectively 7.5%, 7.3% and 9.2%.
Domestic and international guest nights increased by a similar degree, both up about 5% from October last year, Ms McKenzie said.
The strong Canterbury growth was driven by more guest nights spent in hotels and backpackers while the Bay of Plenty’s growth was driven by increases in motel and holiday park guest nights.
Of the 8.4% growth in South Island guest nights, Ms McKenzie said domestic guest nights rose 9.5% in the South Island, while international guest nights advanced 7.4%. In the North Island, domestic guest nights rose 2.3% and international guest nights rose 2.9%.
New Zealand has been experiencing record levels of tourism in recent years, putting a strain on the related infrastructure.
Hotel guest nights rose 1.2% from October last year to 1.15million, while motel nights rose 4.6% to 1.04million and backpacker stays rose 1.5% to 408,000. Holiday park nights jumped 16% to 545,000.
— Simon Hartley, additional reporting Businessdesk
