KEY POINTS:
A surge in the number of Kiwis holidaying at home has boosted guest nights in commercial accommodation into positive territory for the first time in six months.
Statistics New Zealand figures show domestic guest nights were up 16 per cent in October, increasing by 217,000 to 1.6 million nights and pushing total guest night numbers up by 4 per cent.
Auckland benefited the most from the boost with its domestic guest nights soaring 57,000 - a 25 per cent increase.
Canterbury also saw a boost in domestic visitors with guest nights up 32,000 or 15 per cent on the same month last year.
But the domestic increase was tempered by an 11 per cent fall in international guest nights which dropped 114,000 nights to 900,000.
Auckland was the hardest hit by the international fallout dropping 32,000 guest nights, or 14 per cent, while Bay of Plenty also suffered a big fall of 30,000 guest nights, or 28 per cent.
Of the five types of accommodation monitored, caravan parks and camping grounds had the largest percentage increase, up 40,000, or 11 per cent, followed by hotels, which were up 48,000, or 6 per cent.
Government Statistician Geoff Bascand said October this year had coincided with a greater overlap of the school holidays but the exact effect of that was difficult to measure.
Motel Association chief executive Michael Baines believed the increase was strongly linked to a drop in petrol prices.
"That makes a hell of a difference," he said.
Unleaded petrol hit a peak of $2.19 a litre in July but had fallen to under $1.90 by the start of October.
Baines said October also coincided with the start of tax cuts, ensuring people had a bit more money in their pockets to spend.
Baines expected November accommodation figures would also be up on last year and said his association had just had a record month for online bookings - 83 per cent ahead of last year.
He said forward bookings showed accommodation was filling up for the March season but not all areas were seeing the numbers.
"Taranaki has done well all the way through. Wellington has come back. But Rotorua and Queenstown are certainly down."
Baines said the popular tourist spots were suffering from the downturn in international visitors, particularly those coming on group tours.
Statistics New Zealand said the trend in total guest nights had been decreasing for a year, with the trend level now 2 per cent lower than the recent peak in November 2007, but still 4 per cent higher than the most recent low point in January 2006.
