However, hoteliers and moteliers in the areas are not seeing the same growth.
Bachcare New Zealand spokeswoman Zaina Razzaq said the impact of Omicron on the upper North Island meant Aucklanders were less likely to travel out of town, but Kiwis in the rest of the country were still travelling in similar numbers to the previous year.
While bookings were now tailing off from the "record summer peak" in some areas, she said regions such as Queenstown and the Southern Lakes continued to attract large volumes of domestic travellers.
In addition to the growth in Canterbury and Queenstown/Southern Lakes’s over the previous year, Lake Taupo was up 38 per cent, and Wellington and Wairarapa were up 21 per cent.
"We know that for many, holiday homes are preferable to other types of accommodation because unlike hotels, guests do not have shared spaces to contend with.
"We think this is part of the reason consumer demand is remaining resilient during the developing Omicron situation," she said.
However, Novotel Queenstown general manager and Queenstown Wanaka Hoteliers group member Jim Moore and Lakefront Lodge Te Anau owner Dianne Walsh said they were not seeing anything like that kind of growth in their Waitangi weekend bookings.
Mr Moore said the market appeared to be down about 75 per cent on pre-Covid numbers.
February was historically one of the busiest months of the year — particularly for the international market and the conference market being two large sectors for hotels.
"With the borders closed and trading in the Government’s traffic light system at Red, this has effectively wiped out all of this business as well as reducing other business sectors.
"In comparison to 2021, hotel occupancies are holding less business than they experienced last year — further impacted by at least four new hotels that were committed prior to Covid opening in 2021 and a further two opening since the pandemic started."
He said Queenstown traditionally had more than 25 per cent of the market from domestic travellers and had always welcomed New Zealanders.
"Now is a great time to come, and long weekends such as Waitangi weekend offer greater vibrancy and reasons to book."
