Another record month for the Rotorua visitor industry

Another record month for the Rotorua visitor industry

Rotorua – 11 November 2016:

September was another record month for Rotorua’s visitor industry.

Destination Rotorua chief executive Michelle Templer says the fantastic experiences offered in Rotorua are obviously connecting with Kiwis as domestic market growth has underpinned this record September result.

The Statistics New Zealand Commercial Accommodation Monitor recorded 92,700 domestic visitor nights in Rotorua’s accommodation for the September 2016 month, which was a 7600 night increase (up nine per cent versus three per cent increase nationally) over the previous year. For the same period, there were 73,200 domestic visits to Rotorua Attractions & Activities Monitor sites (up 21 per cent), and $23.9 million domestic expenditure in Rotorua (up three percent versus 13 per cent decline nationally).

“September was the fourth consecutive month of record breaking results for Rotorua” says Templer. “Rotorua’s visitor industry is well placed leading into the busy summer period after such strong numbers through the late winter and early shoulder seasons.”

Data released by Statistics New Zealand this week reported a record September for nights spent in commercial accommodation in Rotorua with hotels, motels, backpacker hostels and holiday parks collectively hosting 156,700 visitor nights for the month. That was up 13,900 nights or 10 per cent (versus a six per cent increase nationally) on September 2015.

The Rotorua Attractions and Activities Monitor also reported a record September with 201,700 visits, up 37,800 (or 23 per cent) on the previous year. Both sectors had increased growth with visits to attractions up 24 per cent and visit to activities up eight per cent.

Rotorua Visitor Centre and iSite assistant manager Kyle Kydd says the wet weather during the September school holidays did not dampen visitor bookings for Rotorua attractions and activities.

“Visitors are realising that regardless of the weather, Rotorua always has something to do,” says Kydd. “Some outdoor activities that were previously thought of as weather dependent are now proving popular regardless of the weather.”

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