Quake and holiday timing affect Rotorua tourism numbers

The effects of Christchurch's February 22 earthquake are now coming through in commercial accommodation figures, with a 9.7 per cent fall during March.

Figures just released by Statistics New Zealand show accommodation nights were 9.7 per cent lower than in March 2010, including a 12.1 per cent fall in international visitor nights and a 6.5 per cent decline in the domestic numbers.

Destination Rotorua Tourism Marketing's acting general manager Tania Bui said the data was ''not great, but expected'' in the month immediately after the Christchurch earthquake and given that school holidays shifted out of March this year.

''We are seeing the impact of both these factors in our international numbers, but we are also seeing change in movement within New Zealand.''
This was seen in overall statistics showing a 40.5 per cent decline in visitor nights in Canterbury, followed by Rotorua's 9.7 per cent and Queenstown's 9.4 per cent, compared with the national figure of 5.4 per cent.
Bui said people from Christchurch generally ''escaped'' to the larger centres as, unless they had friends or family to go to, this was logistically easier.

As people increasingly use the internet to research and book travel, she said homestays, baches and B&Bs were also becoming a more significant part of the accommodation sector.

Flooding and fires in Australia, along with the later school holidays, had affected numbers
from across the Tasman, but Bui said the 1.3 per cent drop was ''not too bad'' considering the circumstances and spending at attractions and activities was still good.
She expects the earthquake and slow economic recovery in Europe and the United States to continue affecting tourism figures into April and, probably, May.
''The good thing is that some of this is counteracted domestically. Even though Kiwis are not keen to travel outside New Zealand at the moment, we have still had a pretty good response.''

Destination Rotorua Tourism Marketing will continue to build on this through its campaigns in Australia and around New Zealand— particularly in Auckland.
''We need to keep talking about why Rotorua is fantastic as a destination.''

THE NUMBERS
Rotorua visitor statistics for March 2011 (compared to 2010)

Visitor nights: 150,496—down 9.7 per cent
International nights: 83,556— down 12.1 per cent
Domestic nights: 66,940— down 6.5 per cent
Average stay: nights 1.76 nights —up from 1.69
Occupancy: 44.8 per cent of 191,146 available units
By accommodation sector

■ Hotels
Nights: 60,788—down 12.3 per cent
Percentage of all accommodation: 40
Occupancy: 60.9 per cent
■ Motels
Nights: 46,233—down 10.1 per cent
Percentage of all accommodation: 31
Occupancy: 51 per cent
■ Holiday Parks
Nights: 25,162—down 7.6 per cent
Percentage of all accommodation: 17
Occupancy: 19.5 per cent
■ Backpackers
Nights: 18,313 — down 2.1 per cent
Percentage of all accommodation: 12
Occupancy: 53.8 per cent

Attractions and activities
Total visits: 179,106—down 9.6 per cent
International visits: 132,279— down 15.7 per cent
Domestic visits: 46,827—up 13.4 per cent