Accommodation Survey: May 2009

Total guest nights

Total guest nights in short-term commercial accommodation were 2.0 million in May 2009, a 1 percent decrease compared with May 2008, but a 4 percent increase compared with May 2007.

The trend in total guest nights decreased over the 2008 year. Although the trend appears to have been increasing in 2009, this change should be treated with caution, as time series analysis suggests more data is required for the direction of the trend to be confirmed. The trend level is now 1 percent higher than the previous low in December 2008, but is still 3 percent lower than the peak in December 2007.

 

Guest nights by island

Guest nights in the North Island were 1.2 million in May 2009, a 2 percent decrease compared with May 2008, but a 3 percent increase compared with May 2007.

After a period of decreases from January 2008, the trend for North Island guest nights appears to have been increasing since November 2008. This apparent increase in the trend in recent months should be treated with caution, as time series analysis suggests more data is required for the direction of the trend to be confirmed. The trend level is now 2 percent higher than the previous low in November 2008, but is still 3 percent lower than the peak in December 2007.

Guest nights in the South Island were 0.8 million in May 2009, a 2 percent increase compared with May 2008, and a 5 percent increase compared with May 2007.

After decreasing since October 2007, the trend for South Island guest nights has been showing a slight increase since February 2009. This apparent increase in the trend in recent months should be treated with caution, as time series analysis suggests more data is required for the direction of the trend to be confirmed. The trend level is still 4 percent lower than the October 2007 peak.

 

Guest nights by region

Although there was a drop of 13,000 in total guest nights, 8 of the 12 regions recorded more guest nights in May 2009 than in May 2008, with the following regions showing the largest increases:

• West Coast, up 7,000 (10 percent)
• Taranaki/Manawatu-Wanganui, up 4,000 (4 percent)
• Wellington, up 4,000 (2 percent).

The region showing the largest decrease was Auckland, down 34,000 (8 percent).

Comparison with short-term overseas visitor arrival statistics

International Travel and Migration: May 2009 shows that short-term overseas visitor arrivals to New Zealand in May 2009 were up 1,400 (1 percent) from May 2008. This follows an increase of 16,500 (9 percent) in April 2009 compared with April 2008.

In May 2009 compared with May 2008, there were more people visiting friends and relatives, up 5,600 (13 percent), and more visitors on holiday, up 2,100 (4 percent). By contrast, there were fewer visitors on business, down 4,500 (20 percent).

New Zealand resident short-term departures for May 2009 were down 10,300 (6 percent) from May 2008. This follows a decrease of 1,900 (1 percent) in April 2009 compared with April 2008.

Origin of guests

International visitors contributed 0.8 million guest nights in May 2009, down 7,000 (1 percent) from May 2008. These visitors provided 31 percent of total guest nights in the North Island and 46 percent of those in the South Island. Domestic guest nights numbered 1.3 million, down 6,000 (1 percent) from May 2008.

In the North Island, there were 385,000 international guest nights, down 23,000 (6 percent) from May 2008. International guest nights in the South Island were 366,000, up 16,000 (5 percent) over the same period. In the North Island, there were 4,000 (less than 1 percent) fewer domestic guest nights, and in the South Island there were 2,000 (1 percent) fewer in May 2009 compared with May 2008.

Six of the 12 regions showed decreases in international guest nights, with the largest decreases recorded in:

• Auckland, down 27,000 (14 percent)
• Taranaki/Manawatu-Wanganui, down 2,000 (10 percent)
• Northland, down 1,000 (4 percent)
• Bay of Plenty, down 1,000 (2 percent).

The regions recording the largest increases were:

• Canterbury, up 8,000 (6 percent)
• Otago, up 8,000 (7 percent)
• Wellington, up 4,000 (8 percent).

 

Seven of the 12 regions showed decreases in domestic guest nights, led by:

• Auckland, down 8,000 (3 percent)
• Waikato, down 5,000 (4 percent)
• Otago, down 5,000 (4 percent)
• Canterbury, down 5,000 (3 percent).

The regions recording the largest increases in domestic guest nights were:

• West Coast, up 6,000 (20 percent)
• Taranaki/Manawatu-Wanganui, up 6,000 (7 percent)
• Northland, up 4,000 (7 percent).

In May 2009, there was a response rate of 70 percent to the Accommodation Survey question on 'origin of guests'. In May 2008, the response rate was 66 percent. Figures for those establishments that failed to respond have been imputed and such high levels of imputation can affect data quality, including comparisons between different months.

Guest nights by accommodation type

In May 2009, three of the five accommodation types had fewer guest nights than in May 2008:

• hotels, down 18,000 (2 percent)
• motels, down 8,000 (1 percent)
• hosted, down 3,000 (11 percent).

Caravan parks/camping grounds had the largest increase, up 13,000 (5 percent), followed by backpackers/hostels, up 3,000 (1 percent).

In May 2009, hotels had the largest share of total guest nights (36 percent), followed by motels (33 percent) and backpackers/hostels (16 percent).

After a period of decreases in the second half of 2008, the trend level for backpackers/hostels has been increasing since November 2008. The rate of the increase in the trend has been accelerating, and in May 2009, the trend level was 6 percent higher than in November 2008.

 

Occupancy rate

In May 2009, the occupancy rate, excluding caravan parks/camping grounds, was 41 percent, compared with 42 percent in May 2008. This is the lowest May occupancy rate since 2000.

Hotels had the highest occupancy rate (46 percent) of all the accommodation types in May 2009, followed by motels (41 percent) and backpackers/hostels (37 percent).

Excluding the caravan parks/camping grounds category, 10 of the 12 regions had lower occupancy rates in May 2009 than in May 2008. The leading occupancy rates were:

• Wellington (55 percent)
• Auckland (49 percent)
• Bay of Plenty (43 percent).

Response rates

When respondents do not answer questions in this survey, Statistics New Zealand estimates the missing information based on data from similar establishments in the same and/or similar areas. For more information, please see the Technical notes of this release or contact Statistics New Zealand.

Survey sponsorship

The Accommodation Survey is a monthly survey undertaken by Statistics New Zealand and sponsored by the Ministry of Tourism.

For technical information contact:
Christine Sadler or Tehseen Islam
Christchurch 03 964 8700
Email: info@stats.govt.nz.

Next release ...

Accommodation Survey: June 2009 will be released on 12 August 2009.