Queenstown visitor numbers continue to recover after being buffeted by the ripple effects of natural disasters in New Zealand and overseas last year.
June visitor numbers in the resort showed a strong start to winter, Statistics New Zealand figures released on Friday show.
The commercial accommodation monitor for June 2012 showed overall guest nights up 19.3% to 143,063 compared with June 2011.
International guest nights were up 12.9% to 82,579, accounting for 57.7% of all guest nights in the Wakatipu.
Domestic guest nights increased 29.3% to 60,484 for the same period.
Hotels and motel-apartments were the key sectors to benefit, showing a strong increase of 22%.
Destination Queenstown chief executive Graham Budd said it was a very pleasing result overall.
"We had a good strong start to winter and it's great to see increases in both international and Kiwi visitors.
"These figures also align closely with increases in both domestic and international airport arrivals for June.
"Remembering that in 2011 we also had travel disruptions from the Chilean volcanic ash and low early snowfall, it's good to see a continued recovery in 2012."
Total New Zealand guest nights, after seasonal adjustment, rose 4% in June 2012 compared with May 2012. This followed a rise of 3.2% in May 2012.
Domestic guest nights rose 8.8%, while international guest nights rose 3.9%. North Island guest nights rose 6.6%, while South Island guest nights rose 1.9%. Guest nights rose for all accommodation types, but particularly for hotels, Statistics NZ reported.
International Travel and Migration statistics show 151,100 short-term visitors arrived in New Zealand in June. This was 15% higher than in June 2011, and 4% higher than in June 2010.
More visitors arrived from Australia (up 15,900) and China (up 3000) in June 2012 compared with June 2011.
The Australian increase reversed June 2011's decrease (down 11,400 compared with June 2010), when flights were disrupted by the ash cloud from the Chilean volcano.
