Figures released by Statistics New Zealand show guest nights for Otago increased from 387,492 during August last year to 398,792 during the same period this year.
Central Otago commercial accommodation providers recorded a 15.3% increase, Dunedin 13.7%, Waitaki 11.7% and Wanaka 11.1%.
Clutha (-4.8%) and Queenstown (-2.1%) recorded a drop in total nights, with the resort recording a 9% drop in international visitors in the period.
The largest drop in the country was in Canterbury (-22.7%), which was driven by a 34.9% decline in international guest nights.
Overall, national guest nights for August were up 8.4% to 2,195,358.
Destination Queenstown chief executive Tony Everitt said the coach tour industry "has been temporarily quite badly impacted by the Christchurch earthquake".
That market was expected to return to the resort in November, when accommodation figures were expected to turn around, he said.
The August figures represented the smallest decline in Queenstown guest nights since the earthquake, and he was pleased to see domestic visitors rising by 16.4%.
Other popular South Island coach destinations also recording drops, included Fiordland (-13.3%), West Coast (-6.6%) and the Mackenzie Country (-7.5%).
Tourism Dunedin chief executive Hamish Saxton said figures for Dunedin were likely to rise again for the month of September, when Rugby World Cup figures would be taken into account.
The figures suggested international tourists here for the ski season were increasingly opting to hire rental vehicles and drive around the regions.
