International guest nights fall from Lions tour high

International guest nights fall from Lions tour high – Media release

10 August 2018

International guest nights fell 8.2 percent in June 2018 compared with June 2017, when the Lions rugby tour boosted guest nights, Stats NZ said today.

Falling international guest nights caused a 1.8 percent decrease in total guest nights spent in short-term commercial accommodation, compared with June 2017.

The Lions tour boost to international guest nights was most obvious in the Auckland and Wellington regions last June. This June both regions recorded decreases.

“June is typically a quiet month for short-term commercial accommodation,” accommodation statistics manager Melissa McKenzie said.

“This helped make both the Lions tour boost in 2017, and the subsequent fall in 2018, more visible than if it had been over a busier period.

“If we ignore the Lions peak in 2017, international guest nights are up 4.8 percent in June 2018 compared with June 2016.”

Falls in international guest nights coincided with fewer international visitor arrivals from the United Kingdom and Ireland, as visitor arrivals came off peaks in 2017 driven by the Lions tour (see Visitor numbers retreat in June).

In the 12 months to June 2018, 39.9 million guest nights were spent in short-term commercial accommodation, up 2.4 percent from the previous June year. This followed increases of 3.7 percent in the June 2017 year and 5.8 percent in the June 2016 year.

The accommodation survey collects data for guests staying in short-term commercial accommodation such as hotels, motels, backpackers, and holiday parks. Hosted and private accommodation, such as bed and breakfasts and holiday homes, are excluded.

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