Christchurch earthquake drives guest night fall

File photo

National guest night numbers fell 1.5 per cent in February from a year earlier, driven by a sharp fall in Canterbury which was hit by a devastating earthquake.

Figures from Statistics New Zealand (SNZ) today put the number of guest nights in short term commercial accommodation nationwide in February at 3.3 million.

While down 1.5 per cent from a year earlier, the figure was similar to February 2009.

The number of guest nights by international visitors fell 4 per cent in February to 1.6m for the country as a whole.

Canterbury, where the fatal earthquake struck on February 22, recorded a fall of 25 per cent or 77,000 guest nights.

Northland was down 13,000 or 13 per cent in international guest nights, while Otago was up 19,000 or 6.7 per cent.

Guest nights by domestic visitors were up 1 per cent to 1.7m nationwide, with Auckland up 24,000 or 9 per cent.

SNZ noted that figures for Canterbury should be used with caution, as response rates in the region were significantly lower than the national response rate, due to the earthquake, requiring a higher level of imputation.

Guest nights in backpacker accommodation were down 16,000 or 3.3 per cent in February from a year earlier, holiday parks had a fall of 15,000 or 2.1 per cent, while hotels and motels both dropped 0.9 per cent or 10,000.

The occupancy rate in February was 64 per cent, excluding holiday parks. That was down 0.4 per centage points from a year earlier.

- NZPA