The Napier Motelliers Association will be sending Statistics New Zealand a "please explain" letter over survey figures which show Hawke's Bay has an increase in both domestic and international guest stays in January.
The association's spokesman, Tim Stephens, said detailed figures he had showed the region did not have a successful January - although Statistics New Zealand say they were up about 3 per cent.
"We are a bit bemused over the figures," Mr Stephens said, adding he was also bemused that Statistics New Zealand appeared to have two new motels in Napier.
"There aren't," he said.
His figures showed the region was actually down 3.1 per cent.
"We will be asking them what is going on."
The survey figures released by Statistics New Zealand show that the country's accommodation and tourism industries had reason to feel optimistic that the recession had failed to bite - as total guest nights were the highest recorded in any month since surveys began in 1996.
Hotels showed strong January figures, and as had been the case for December last year, and backpacker accommodation and holiday parks showed good returns as travellers appeared to be more budget conscious.
But Mr Stephens said hotel guest nights were down.
The figures also showed it appeared people were tending to stay for shorter periods.
David Aflallo, general manager of Kennedy Park Top 10 Resort in Napier, said families who traditionally stayed at the park had returned, but lopped a week off their stay. His figures were the same as last January.
"But we are happy - it was a good result."
Mr Aflallo said January was the biggest month of the year, and he was pleased with the results, given the uncertainties over how much the recession could have affected travel.
The majority of guests were domestic, he said.
Overall, 4.4 million guest nights were recorded in January.
Rise in guest stays challenged
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