Hawke's Bay Tourism has no idea of the true state of the local accommodation industry, Napier Motel Association president Tim Stephens says.
That claim was made after Hawke's Bay Tourism general manager Annie Dundas issued a press release saying she was pleased to see positive news for Hawke's Bay in the Statistics New Zealand Commercial Accommodation Monitor report, with guest nights up 2 per cent on 2011.
"February is a big month for Hawke's Bay with two of our three major events on during this time so we would expect to see a good result," she said. "However, the bad weather is still having an impact on weather dependent sectors such a holiday parks which is not great news for those operators."
For February, compared to 2011, Napier guest nights were down 7 per cent while Hastings was up 12 per cent. International visitor nights for Hawke's Bay were down 15 per cent.
In January they dropped 9 per cent, compared to 2011.
Mr Stephens said it appeared the answer for the overall increase in February was because seasonal orchard workers in Hastings were being included in the statistics.
"Operators have turned their hotels into dormitory blocks for temporary Asian and Pacific Island workers," he said.
"One motel providing this long-term temporary accommodation - staying in 14 rooms - has confirmed that they are including these guest nights in their monthly returns to Statistics New Zealand. Based on the numbers they provided their February statistics are overstated by 1711 guest nights, and they have been doing this for a number of months.
"When this level of overstatement is added to overstatements by other accommodation providers, just how much are the commercial accommodation statistics being overstated by?"
Ms Dundas said increased cruise ship visitors were shaking up the traditional Hawke's Bay tourism pattern.
"The cruise market has changed the dynamic of travel generally around New Zealand. We have seen less structured coach traffic through Hawke's Bay as a result of more passengers jumping on a very cheap cruise, particularly out of the Australian market."
She said the seasonal workers "could possibly be" why Hawke's Bay was up overall but did not know the detail of which sector was up.
Mr Stephens said it added up to an unclear picture.
"Given that the inclusion of these temporary worker guest numbers are masking what is really happening, just how reliable are our visitor statistics and just how effective is our regional promotion?"
Graeme James, owner of the Angus Inn in Hastings said he had 200 seasonal workers but did not include them in his figures for the Accommodation Monitor.
He too doubts the validity of the February figures.
"Personally I find it very hard to believe," he said.
"The whole thing is falsified - I've seen figures coming out of Hawke's Bay which are absolute rubbish."
Ronald Dickens, manager of the Apple Inn, said he had about 50 seasonal workers but did not include them in the Accommodation Monitor.
He said because accommodation providers were cutting their rates to attract guests, the figures did not reflect business profitability.
"The stats don't relay the dollar value of the rooms," he said.
Mr Stephens said slashed prices were further proof of a crisis in the accommodation industry.
"In January major Napier hotels were offering room rates of about $88 a night. To offer those rates in January doesn't make sense unless they have an occupancy problem.
"If we are getting growth why are they cutting prices? It doesn't make commercial sense."
He said the questionable integrity of the statistics meant Tourism Hawke's Bay was oblivious to the problem.
"It is creating an illusion that everything is hunky-dory. There are very real concerns about what the next few months have in store."