Summer tourism numbers plunge, Feb guest nights down 8pc

Empty beaches: Summer tourist numbers were down this year, with Feb stats showing a 8pc fall in guest nights.

The tourist industry took another hard knock in February when the number of guest nights in short term commercial accommodation fell 8 per cent from a year earlier.

Figures published today by Statistics New Zealand (SNZ) also show that occupancy reached its lowest rate for a February since 1999. The occupancy figure, excluding caravan parks and camping grounds, was 62 per cent compared to 66 per cent a year earlier.

SNZ said 3.3m guest nights were recorded in February, this year. That was 8 per cent down on a year ago, although SNZ pointed out that February 2008 was a leap year, with the extra day in February falling on a Friday.

Compared to February 2007, the decline was 5 per cent.

International visitors accounted for 1.6m of the February 2009 guest nights, down 13 per cent from a year earlier. In contrast, domestic guest nights were down just 2 per cent.

Guest nights in motels were down 109,000 or 10 per cent, with hotels down 102,000 or 9 per cent, and caravan parks and camping grounds down 42,000 or 5 per cent.

The biggest regional fall was in Otago, with a decline of 49,000 guest nights, a fall of 10 per cent. Auckland was down 43,000 or 8 per cent and Bay of Plenty dropped 36,000 or 11 per cent.

It was the first time since June 2006 that all 12 regions recorded fewer guest nights than in the same month of the previous year, SNZ said.

The June 2005 figures had been boosted by the British and Irish Lions rugby tour.

- NZPA