Southern regional tourism operators say the decision to scrap monthly accommodation figures could harm the industry.
On Wednesday, Stats NZ announced the Commercial Accommodation Monitor (CAM) was one of four surveys to be stopped from September because of cost pressures.
The survey provides monthly reports on tourist accommodation and can be broken down by region, revealing how many guest nights each region had and how long visitors stayed.
Tourism Waitaki general manager Margaret Munro said the survey provided the organisation's most important piece of data.
"It seems crazy that, on one hand, the Government said recently it would take a more active role in tourism, while taking away this funding with the other.
"You are really basing investment on this sort of data, and having nothing is high risk."
In regards to the online sharing economy, Mrs Munro said there was a gap in the information, but other trends were still reflected in the data - which is jointly funded by Stats NZ and the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE),
Other southern regional tourism organisations were "disappointed" by the decision.
Tourism Minister Kelvin Davis said while he was informed the survey was being reviewed more than a month ago, he was disappointed the process had fallen behind the timeline he expected it to follow.
"My expectation was that this would either be resolved or an alternative would be put in place," Mr Davis said.
Regional Tourism NZ chairman Graham Budd said not having any insight into the accommodation sector of the visitor economy seemed "absurd".
Tourism Central Otago general manager Dylan Rushbrook agreed.
"While we would dearly love to have a more robust methodology that collects data on all levels, until that solution is developed, something is better than nothing."
The news came as a blow to Enterprise Dunedin director John Christie, who said access to meaningful visitor data was a constant challenge for the tourism industry, especially in the regions.
This sentiment was echoed by Lake Wanaka Tourism general manager James Helmore, who said it was also valuable to councils, which needed to know where to spend money on facilities such as car parks, rubbish bins and toilet blocks.
MBIE general manager for evidence and insights Eileen Basher said the costs of running the survey were significantly higher than previously thought - increasing from $520,000 to $2.2 million.
She said the ministry was working with the tourism industry to provide a short-term solution while a longer-term product was being developed.
The accommodation survey had its limitations, and was unable to collect data from online sharing platforms such as Airbnb.
"Finding a product that will provide the insights the industry needs, and is sustainable, is a priority for MBIE, and we are committed to constructively working with the industry on this."
