Hotels, motels, and holiday parks more popular than ever

People spent a record number of nights at hotels, motels, and holiday parks in the August 2018 year, but nights spent at backpackers fell, Stats NZ said today.

“Most accommodation types have seen growth in the past year, except for backpackers – where guest nights have fallen,” accommodation statistics manager Melissa McKenzie said.

“Almost 40 million nights were spent at short-term commercial accommodation in New Zealand, in the year ended August,” Ms McKenzie said. “Guest nights spent at hotels have more than doubled in the past 20 years and are now the most popular type of accommodation.”

In the 12 months ended August 2018 compared with the August 2017 year, the number of guest nights were:
• 14 million at hotels, up 3.6 percent
• 12 million at motels, up 0.9 percent
• 8 million at holiday parks, up 6.2 percent
• 5 million at backpackers, down 1.6 percent.

The areas with the strongest growth in guest nights in the past year were Christchurch, Queenstown-Lakes, and Rotorua. Auckland region’s guest nights fell 1.4 percent following a record August 2017 year.

Hosted and private accommodation, such as bed and breakfasts and holiday homes, are not included in these statistics.

Guest nights up in August month mainly due to North Island

More Kiwis staying in commercial accommodation in the North Island caused guest nights to increase 3.4 percent in the August 2018 month compared with August 2017. This followed a relatively flat August 2017 (down 0.3 percent from August 2016), which was dampened by fewer domestic guest nights in the North Island.

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