Accommodation data reveals a struggle for Rotorua. Photo / NZME
Rotorua's accommodation sector is struggling as domestic lockdowns and a lack of international tourists impact occupancy rates.
Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment-led Accommodation Data Programme figures show, in September, occupancy rates, daily capacity and total guest nights were all the lowest they had been since the data programme began in June last year.
The data covers short-term accommodation including hotels, motels and apartments, backpackers, holiday parks and campgrounds, and lodges and boutique accommodation.
It shows occupancy almost halved in the year to September from 36.5 per cent to 18.8 per cent. Total guest nights for the month were down almost 64 per cent from 93,000 to 33,500. This refers to the number of nights booked rather than visitors so two guests staying three nights would generate six guest nights.
The number of units available, or daily capacity, was down 10 per cent from 5389 in September last year to 4836 in September this year.
However, the data could be painting a better picture than reality as the daily capacity includes units used for managed isolation and quarantine and those temporarily closed.
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Ministry tourism, evidence and insights manager Amapola Generosa said the three Rotorua MIQ facilities - Rydges, Sudima and Ibis - had 527 units collectively and the ministry's data provider was consulting with the industry to remove these from the data.
Generosa said the main factors contributing to the results were linked to Covid-19 and alert level settings.
"In particular, the highly-restricted travel into and within Auckland, and regions near Auckland (such as Rotorua) missed out on their primary source of visitors. Additionally, the nationwide Alert Level 3 setting in the first week of September 2021; the mass cancellations of bookings made in August, and general hesitancy to travel due to uncertainty on restrictions being re-imposed."
Generosa said the latest release of tourism electronic card transaction data showed domestic tourism expenditure was down 44 per cent in the year to September.
"While this is a sizeable decrease, it shows that accommodation was likely worse hit than other tourism industries."
Rotorua Top 10 Holiday Park owner Jared Adams said he would be surprised if anyone in tourism was not "extremely stressed" about the future.
"We're not even sure what [bookings] we'll have for Christmas."
Adams said pre-Covid around 70 per cent of the park's customers were international tourists.
He thought the domestic market would fill the void but since being cut off from Auckland and Waikato, Adams said his business had experienced a "significant downturn".
"It's a pretty scary time to be in tourism to be honest. It's been extremely hard to operate."
Changes to the average number of units per establishment and the average number of guests per unit were marginal but the average number of nights stayed per guest increased from 2.4 to 3.1 nights.
Rotorua Economic Development chief executive Andrew Wilson said there was no doubt Rotorua was suffering from some negative perceptions around the effects of emergency housing.
"We're not alone in that. It's probably quite prominent here given that we've been reliant on tourism."
Wilson said the key thing the data showed was there were a lot of rooms available.
"Rotorua is still a great place to visit. There's plenty of great places to stay around the city, at the lodges on one of the lakes or by our lakefront."
Wilson said accommodation providers had "done it really tough over the last 18 months" and were struggling from the lack of visitors and staffing issues.
"Visitors mean jobs. It's a real juggling act in terms of how they survive through this period.
"There's a fair few accommodation providers who would have probably been out of business if it wasn't for the likes of the MIQ contracts."
Wilson said accommodation providers he spoke to were optimistic about the future but the loss of tourism from Auckland and Waikato had dealt the industry a blow.
"They are our two single biggest domestic markets. We've made some inroads, seeing increases from Wellington, Christchurch and Hawke's Bay over the last 12 months but they don't make up for what we've lost in terms of Auckland and Waikato."
Wilson said the team at Rotorua Economic Development was working hard to change Rotorua's narrative.
Rotorua mayor Steve Chadwick said the data reinforced there was "plenty of accommodation available for visitors".
She said hospitality and tourism operators, including accommodation providers, were concerned about the future of their businesses and accommodation providers would be able to respond to increased demand as that happened.
"Rotorua remains a great place to visit and we are ready and able to welcome visitors back."
Rotorua MP Todd McClay said a concerted effort to move homeless people out of motels and tackle law order issues was needed.
"We continue to hear from people that they no longer feel comfortable in Rotorua because of the homeless problem, homeless motels and levels of crime. It's now more than perception it's become reality.
McClay said the September figures reflected Auckland's long lockdown and many tourism businesses were worried about survival.
"You can't take out three hotels for MIQ and motels for homeless without having an impact upon availability. That has a direct negative impact on restaurants and tourist attractions. If visitors can't find accommodation they don't spend money at businesses that desperately need money through the doors."
Chamber of Commerce chief executive Bryce Heard said accommodation-related sectors were also in difficulty as Rotorua had relied on international, Australian, and domestic tourism for decades.
"We have had few of these visiting for most of the past 20 months and the situation is unprecedented. No examination of trends or minor shifts in the patterns can disguise this reality."
Waiariki-based Labour list MP Tamati Coffey said the numbers reflected "long-term challenges".
"The suite of data research they come from, allows us to accurately monitor the true cost to our sometimes too-modest business owners and factually base future announcements, as we eventually move from vaccination to securing New Zealand's recovery."
Coffey said vaccination was the way to improve the ailing accommodation sector.
"Getting vaccinated not only reduces the risk of Delta in your whānau, it saves jobs."
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