"Rotorua's visitor industry is well placed leading into the busy summer period after such strong numbers through the late winter and early shoulder seasons."
Data released by Statistics New Zealand this week reported a record September for nights spent in commercial accommodation in Rotorua with hotels, motels, backpacker hostels and holiday parks collectively hosting 156,700 visitor nights for the month.
That was up 13,900 nights or 10 per cent (versus a six per cent increase nationally) on September 2015.
The Rotorua Attractions and Activities Monitor also reported a record September with 201,700 visits, up 37,800 (or 23 per cent) on the previous year.
Both sectors had increased growth with visits to attractions up 24 per cent and visit to activities up eight per cent.
Rotorua Visitor Centre and iSite assistant manager Kyle Kydd said the wet weather during the September school holidays did not dampen visitor bookings for Rotorua attractions and activities.
"Visitors are realising that regardless of the weather, Rotorua always has something to do," he said.
"Some outdoor activities that were previously thought of as weather dependent are now proving popular regardless of the weather."
Rotorua Tourism 2015 Year Key Facts:
Tourism in Rotorua is a $700 million per annum industry - domestic visitors spending almost $400 million annually and international visitors in excess of $300 million.
Two million visitor nights were spent in Rotorua's commercial accommodation while an additional 1.5 million visitor nights were spent in the homes of Rotorua friends and families.
The strong growth in the Rotorua visitor industry puts it well on track to achieving the goal of $1 billion in visitor expenditure by 2030.
