Queenstown hits record guest nights for year end 2013

Queenstown, New Zealand (17 February 2014) - Statistics New Zealand’s Commercial Accommodation Monitor (CAM) figures for December 2013 show total Queenstown guest nights for year-end 2013 rose 8.4% to 2,756,149.

From January 2013 every month recorded an increase over the prior year, resulting in the record high for the full 12 months.

International guest nights were up 10.1% to 1,807,837 accounting for 65.6% of all guest nights in the Queenstown RTO area. Domestic guest nights were up 5.2% to 948,312 making up 34.4% of total guest nights for the same period.

The largest percentage increase, by accommodation type, came from the motel sector up 12.9%, with the hotel sector also up 9.4% on year-end 2012.

The average length of stay rose from 2.55 nights to 2.59 nights.

Destination Queenstown CEO Graham Budd was delighted with the result.

“Achieving a record year-end result in December 2013 is very satisfying and it’s great to see consistent growth - our challenge now is to continue that momentum through 2014.”

“It is also encouraging to see length of stay increasing as that is directly in line with Destination Queenstown’s strategy of attracting longer staying visitors,” said Mr Budd.

A monthly comparison shows December 2013 had a small increase, up 0.6% on December 2012. International visitor nights for the month rose 3.6% while domestic guest nights fell 5.4%.

ENDS

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