New Zealand guest nights fell in September as locals failed to pick up the slack from dwindling international visitor numbers.
Total guest nights at short-term commercial accommodation fell 3.6 per cent to 2.11 million in September, compared to the same month a year earlier, and were down 1.4 per cent from August, according to Statistics New Zealand.
That was led by a 28 per cent plunge in international visitor nights to 709,000 from the same month a year ago, when New Zealand accommodation was bolstered by the Rugby World Cup. International visitor nights were down 4.7 per cent to a seasonally adjusted 956,000 from August.
"The trend for international guest nights has been generally falling since a high point in September 2011," Statistics NZ said in its report.
Government figures showed the number of short-term visitors shrank 19 per cent to 179,100 in September from a year earlier, when the country was flooded by fans for the Rugby World Cup.