Guest nights up 6pc for April

Guest nights in Rotorua increased 6 per cent this April.

Guest nights were up this April in Rotorua but the chairman of the local motel association anticipates a tough winter ahead.

Guest nights in Rotorua increased 6 per cent to 180,563 this April, up on last year, according to Statistics New Zealand.

The Statistics New Zealand Accommodation Survey collects data for guests staying in hotels, motels, backpacker accommodation and holiday parks in New Zealand each month. A guest night refers to one guest spending one night in an establishment.

Rotorua Association of Motels chairman Barry Mabey said Easter, Anzac Day and the school holidays all fell in April this year, which would have accounted for the increase in guest nights.

"I think people need to remember that Rotorua is a destination. New Zealanders are starting again to realise that Rotorua is a good destination."

He said the area could do with its events being more spread out.

"I think a lot of the events tend to sit on top of each other and that creates a problem for accommodation because we can't provide enough."

Nationally, guest nights for April 2015 were 3.6 per cent higher than in April 2014, according to Statistics New Zealand.

Motel Association chief executive Michael Baines put the increase down to New Zealand's "Indian summer" and low fuel prices.

The weather at the end of last year had been shocking but had improved since the beginning of January.

"When it's warm and the days are long and people are feeling happy and content they're more likely to travel. I think that's a motivator. If the price of petrol's down, that's a barrier to travel that's been lowered."