Penny Clark, Queenstown hotels regional chairwoman of the Tourism Industry Association (TIA) and general manager of Goldridge Resort, was commenting on the TIA Hotels 2012 Annual Operating Survey, presented at the TIA Roadshow in Queenstown last week.
The survey found Queenstown hotels enjoyed a year of steady trading in 2012 with domestic leisure, event and conference business returning to normal patterns following the Rugby World Cup and the Christchurch earthquake, which caused huge disruption to visitor flows throughout the South Island in 2011.
The 21 Queenstown members of TIA Hotels generated more than $139 million in revenue from 3023 rooms. Members employed more than 2000 people and contributed about $90 million to the region through wages and salaries, food and beverage purchases, rates and other expenditure.
TIA Hotels sector manager Rachael Shadbolt said a relatively uneventful 2012 let hotels adjust to shifts in visitor markets after the global financial crisis, the increasingly short lead nature of bookings and guests remaining price-conscious.
''You'd have to say that we have got some green shoots appearing in Queenstown because last year we nudged ourselves forward from the previous year, which were a few disasters, and since January to now we've had pretty good months,'' Ms Clark said.
''February was brilliant in that it was well beyond anything we'd done in a long while. We'd forgotten what it was like, but it had something to do with the Chinese New Year in February, instead of January, the NZPGA Golf Tournament and the big [Pat Benatar as headline act] concert.
''March and April were solid months, May's always sluggish, but I'm not getting the impression hoteliers are doing any worse than last year, so ostensibly a bit better.
''All we really now need is some nice snow and to have a strong winter and then we can really start to say we're making some headway.''
The survey showed Queenstown TIA members had a 63.2% occupancy rate, up 3.4% compared with 2011 at 59.8%.
However, this was below the national TIA Hotels' occupancy of 69.9%.
Ms Clark said Queenstown hotels would not reach the national occupancy level because New Zealand's three major cities enjoyed corporate business year-round. Queenstown's shoulder seasons in May and October pulled the resort's average down for the year.
The new international-scale convention centre in Auckland made the proposed convention centre in Queenstown even more prevalent as large conferences in Auckland would host pre- and post-conferences in scenic locations such as Queenstown, Ms Clark said.
The survey said Queenstown members achieved an average room rate of $141.80, down compared with 2011 at $144.25, but up $7 on 2010.
Ms Clark said the average room room rate viewed over five years was ''not particularly brilliant'', but hotels discounting rooms was due to an oversupply of accommodation.
