Rotorua guest nights drop sharply

Rotorua guest nights dropped by more than the national average in December for the first time in seven months.
With a 7.6 per cent decline in visitor nights spent in the city's commercial accommodation, Rotorua was well below the national drop of 2.4 per cent.
Both domestic and international figures contributed to this drop off, with domestic nights falling by 4.5 per cent, compared to New Zealand's 0.3 per cent rise, and international guests  10.6 per cent down, compared to the national 5.6 per cent.
This put Rotorua's growth at 24th in the rankings of all 31 regional tourism organisations.
Rotorua District Council economic and regulatory services group manager Mark Rawson said visitor numbers were still being affected by the recession and the strong New Zealand dollar and, as a traditional destination for overseas visitors, Rotorua was hit harder than most.
"On the domestic front, Rotorua has had to compete with resort destinations in Australia and the Pacific, which have become more affordable with the strong New Zealand dollar and low-cost airfares."
While the Rotorua Activities and Attractions Monitor showed an 8 per cent increase in activity from the Auckland market, where Destination Rotorua Tourism Marketing has been focusing marketing efforts, Rawson said Fiji,
in particular, was offering very cost-effective alternatives to domestic travel.
He pointed to an 11.6 per cent rise in short-term departures from New Zealand as evidence of the impact more affordable international travel was having.
Despite the decline in visitor nights, Rotorua still had the third-highest occupancy rate in the country.
At 53 per cent, Rotorua came in behind Queenstown on 59.3 per cent and Auckland on 59 per cent.
Rotorua also came out ahead of the national visitor night growth across the whole 2010 period, recording 2.6 per cent compared to the nationwide 0.7 per cent.
The Australian and Chinese markets continue to be strong for New Zealand, but Rawson said the natural disasters that have hit various regions across the Tasman could well have a negative effect on visitors from Australia in the coming months.
Both these markets tend to yield shorter-stay visitors and
he said their strength, partnered with declines in longer-stay markets such as the United Kingdom and United States, would have contributed to the decline
in visitor nights he suspected may continue into January's
statistics.
THE NUMBERS
Rotorua visitor statistics for December (compared to December 2009)

Visitor nights: 168,747 - down 7.6 per cent

Domestic nights: 85,319 - down 4.5 per cent

International nights: 83,428 - down 10.6 per cent

Average stay: 1.87 nights - up from 1.7

Occupancy: 44.2 per cent of the 190,805 available places

By accommodation sector

Hotels

Nights: 64,663 - down 5.5 down per cent

Percentage of all accommodation: 38.3

Occupancy: 58.6 per cent - down 2.2 points

Motels

Nights: 50,300 - down 7.6 per cent

Percentage of all accommodation: 29.8

Occupancy: 48.8 per cent - up 2.6 points

Holiday Parks

Nights: 36,365 - down 10.1 per cent

Percentage of all accommodation: 21.6

Occupancy: 23.7 per cent - down 4 points

Backpackers

Nights: 17,418 - down 10.1 per cent

Percentage of all accommodation: 10.3

Occupancy: 48.8 per cent - down 6.2 points

Attractions and activities

Total visits: 232,865 - down 0.1 per cent

Domestic visits: 62,395 - up 1.7 per cent

International visits: 170,470 - down 0.8 per cent