KEY POINTS:
The number of guest nights spent in short-term commercial accommodation was up 7 per cent in March from a year earlier, figures out today from Statistics New Zealand (SNZ) show.
The 3.6 million total guest nights was also 15 per cent higher than March 2006.
All five accommodation types showed higher guest nights in March 2008 than a year earlier, led by a 148,000 or 24 per cent increase for caravan parks/camping grounds.
Hotels were up 48,000 or 5 per cent, and backpackers/hostels up 18,000 or 4 per cent to that category's highest guest nights total for any month since the survey started in 1996.
Having the Easter holidays in March, rather than April as was the case in 2007, may have contributed to the increase, but the effect was difficult to measure, SNZ said today.
Among the regions, Canterbury had the largest increase in March 2008 from March 2007, with a rise of 77,000 guest nights, a 15 per cent rise.
Wellington was up by 32,000 or 12 per cent, Nelson/Marlborough/Tasman lifted 31,000 or 14 per cent, and Otago was up 29,000 or 6 per cent.
The only region to show a decrease was Waikato, down 5000 or 2 per cent.
Excluding caravan parks/camping grounds, the occupancy rate was 62 per cent, compared to 64 per cent in March 2007.
Accommodation capacity, excluding caravan parks/camping grounds, was 3 per cent above the March 2007 level.
The trend for total guest nights had been increasing since February 2006, SNZ said. In March, the trend level was 3 per cent higher than in March 2007 and 9 per cent higher than in March 2006.
- NZPA
