KEY POINTS:
The amount of time visitors spent in short-term commercial accommodation hit record levels in five regions during January, despite a nationwide fall in stays by international visitors.
Figures out from Statistics New Zealand (SNZ) today show total guest nights up 2 per cent to 4.5 million in January this year, compared to January 2007.
Canterbury was the region with the largest increase in guest nights, with numbers up 7 per cent or 44,000 to a record 661,000.
In Auckland guest nights were up 32,000 or 6 per cent to a record 595,000, while other regions hitting records were Otago with 563,000, Nelson/Marlborough/Tasman with 385,000 and Taranaki/Manawatu-Wanganui with 198,000.
The region with the third-largest increase in January 2008 from a year earlier was Bay of Plenty with a rise of 22,000 or 4 per cent.
Hawke's Bay/Gisborne had the largest decrease in guest nights with a drop of 16,000 or 7 per cent.
New Zealanders accounted for 2.7m of the January guest nights, a 6 per cent increase compared to January 2007. The 1.7m international guest nights was down 4 per cent.
Canterbury had both the largest increase in guest nights by New Zealanders, which were up 66,000 or 24 per cent, and the largest fall in international guest nights, which were down 22,000 or 6 per cent.
Wellington and Bay of Plenty also did well out of domestic guest nights, which were up by 20,000 in each region.
Northland took the second-biggest hit from the international decline, with a fall of 21,000 or 16 per cent in its international guest nights.
In January 2008, international visitors made up 39 per cent of the total guest nights, compared with a 42 per cent share a year earlier, SNZ said.
The figures show caravan parks and camping grounds increasing in popularity, with guest night numbers lifting 73,000 or 5 per cent, while hotel numbers were up 40,000 or 4 per cent.
The largest decrease was for backpackers and hostels, which saw a fall of 15,000 or 3 per cent.
- NZPA
