Tourism booming with record guest nights

New Zealand's tourism industry is in better shape than ever with a record number of people staying in hotels, motels, backpackers and other short-term accommodation in January.

Statistics New Zealand (SNZ) said total January short term guest nights at 4.3 million was the highest one month total since it began its accommodation survey in 1996 and represented a 4 per cent increase on the same month a year ago.

Guest nights spent by international visitors were up 10 per cent on January last year, with visitors from Australia rising 18 per cent to 61,000 and visitors from the UK and Ireland up 13 per cent to 45,000.

Guest nights spent by visitors from China and other Asian countries excluding Korea and Japan were down 25 per cent. The timing of Chinese New Year in February this year as opposed to January last year probably contributed to this SNZ said in a statement.

The number of guest nights spent by domestic guests rose by one per cent.

Guest nights rose by 6 per cent to 1.8 million in the South Island and by 3 per cent to 2.5 million in the North Island.

All 12 regions recorded more guest nights with Canterbury leading the way, with a 10 per cent rise compared to January 2004.

- NZPA