North Island drives fall in guest nights

Guest nights fell in June across all accommodation sectors except backpacker stays. Photo / NZME

New Zealand guest nights fell in June as overnight stays in the North Island declined, snapping five months of gains in the island.

Seasonally adjusted guest nights dropped 3.2 per cent in June, from May's revised gain of 2.5 per cent, which had been the fastest pace since April 2014's 3.3 per cent gain, according to Statistics New Zealand.

Overnight stays in the North Island dropped 3.4 per cent, the first fall since January, while in the South Island they declined 5.9 per cent.

New Zealand tourism has been getting a boost from a weaker currency, which makes it more affordable for foreigners to visit, and got a fillip from events such as the Cricket World Cup earlier this year and the more recent Under-20 Fifa World Cup.

Yesterday's figures show guest nights fell across all accommodation sectors except backpacker stays, which posted a seasonally adjusted 0.4 per cent gain in June. Holiday park nights sank 9.3 per cent, motel stays dropped 5.1 per cent and hotel nights fell 4 per cent.

New Zealanders staying overnight also fell in the month, with domestic guest nights declining 5 per cent, and international guest nights dropping 4 per cent. On an annual basis, national guest nights rose for a 15th straight month, up 3.1 per cent to 1.93 million guest nights in the year ended June 30, the slowest annual pace since June 2014, the agency said.

North Island annual guest nights also rose for the 15th consecutive month, up 2.7 per cent to 1.23 million stays, while South Island stays increased 3.8 per cent to 701,000. International stays rose for the 19th consecutive month, up 8 per cent, with domestic guest nights up 0.6 per cent on an annual basis.

Total capacity in short-term accommodation expanded 0.8 per cent in June compared with the same month last year. Occupancy rates increased to 30.4 per cent from 29.3 per cent for the same month a year earlier.