Figures show guest nights rose in October helped by South Island boost

In Otago, motel and hotel guest nights increased the most, boosted by tourist hot spots Wanaka and Queenstown, pictured. Photo / File

New Zealand national guest nights rose in October from a year earlier as demand was bolstered by good weather, a longer ski season and more school holidays.

Total guest nights gained 4.8 per cent to 3.15 million in October from the same month a year earlier, Statistics New Zealand said. Guest nights in the North Island rose 2.5 per cent while South Island guest nights climbed 8.4 per cent.

Of that, domestic guest nights rose 9.5 percent in the South Island, while international guest nights advanced 7.4 per cent. In the North Island, domestic guest nights rose 2.3 percent and international guest nights rose 2.9 per cent.

New Zealand has been experiencing record levels of tourism in recent years, putting a strain on the accompanying infrastructure which has often struggled to keep up with demand.

Eleven of the country's 12 regional areas reported more guest nights in October, with Taranaki, Manawatu and Wanganui up 15 percent and Southland up 20 per cent.

More than half the national increase came from Canterbury, Otago, and the Bay of Plenty, where guest nights rose 7.5 per cent, 7.3 per cent and 9.2 per cent respectively.

"The strong growth in Canterbury was driven by more guest nights spent in hotels and backpackers than in October last year. In Otago, motel and hotel guest nights increased the most, boosted by tourist hot spots Wanaka and Queenstown. The growth in the Bay of Plenty was driven by increases in motel and holiday park guest nights," accommodation statistics manager Melissa McKenzie said.

The only exception was Auckland, typically the first port of call for international visitors, where guest nights declined 6.3 per cent in October from a year earlier.

Hotel guest nights rose 1.2 per cent from October last year to 1.15 million, while motel nights rose 4.6 per cent to 1.04 million and backpacker stays rose 1.5 per cent to 408,000. Holiday park nights jumped 16 per cent to 545,000.

The hotel occupancy rate edged up 0.3 percentage points to 68.2 per cent, while the holiday park rate rose 1.9 per cent to 16.3 and the backpacker rate advanced 0.5 percentage points to 41.0 per cent. Meanwhile, the motel rate slipped 0.8 percentage points to 58.2 per cent.