Accommodation Survey: April 2009

Change in the timing of Easter

In 2008, the Easter holidays occurred in March, while in 2009 the Easter holidays were in April. This factor should be noted when comparing the figures for April 2009 with those for April 2008. The first term school holidays in 2008 occurred partly in April and partly in May, while in 2009 they occurred entirely in April. The impact on the data of these changes in timing cannot be quantified.

Due to the impact of the change in timing of the Easter holidays, it may be better to compare data for the two months ended April 2009 with the two months ended April 2008.

Total guest nights

Total guest nights in short-term commercial accommodation were 2.8 million in April 2009, a 4 percent increase compared with April 2008 and an increase of less than 1 percent compared with April 2007. Both Easter and the first term school holidays fell entirely in April in 2007.

For the two months ended April 2009, guest nights were 4 percent lower than for the two months ended April 2008.

The trend in total guest nights has been decreasing since October 2007, but the rate of decrease has been slowing since July 2008. The trend level is now 4 percent lower than the peak in October 2007, but is still 2 percent higher than the previous low point in January 2006.

 

Guest nights by island

Guest nights in the North Island were 1.6 million in April 2009, a 5 percent increase compared with April 2008 and a 2 percent increase compared with April 2007. For the two months ended April 2009, guest nights were 3 percent lower than for the two months ended April 2008.

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The trend for North Island guest nights has been decreasing since November 2007, but the rate of decrease has been easing over recent months. The trend level is now 5 percent lower than the November 2007 peak, but is still 2 percent higher than the previous low point in January 2006.

 

Guest nights in the South Island were 1.2 million in April 2009, a 3 percent increase compared with April 2008, but a 2 percent decrease compared with April 2007. For the two months ended April 2009, guest nights were 6 percent lower than for the two months ended April 2008.

The trend for South Island guest nights has been decreasing since October 2007, and is now 6 percent lower than the October 2007 peak. The rate of decline has been easing over recent months.

 

Guest nights by region

Nine of the 12 regions recorded more guest nights in April 2009 than in April 2008, with the following regions showing the largest increases:

• Waikato, up 35,000 (16 percent)
• Canterbury, up 21,000 (5 percent)
• Bay of Plenty, up 21,000 (8 percent).

The region showing the largest decrease was Auckland, down 30,000 (6 percent).

For the two months ended April 2009, 10 of the 12 regions recorded fewer guest nights than in the two months ended April 2008. The largest decreases were:

• Auckland, down 60,000 (6 percent)
• Otago, down 56,000 (7 percent)
• Canterbury, down 43,000 (4 percent).

The region recording the largest increase was Waikato, up 13,000 (3 percent).

Comparison with short-term overseas visitor arrival statistics

International Travel and Migration: April 2009 shows that short-term overseas visitor arrivals to New Zealand in April 2009 were up 16,500 (9 percent) from April 2008. This follows a decrease of 24,300 (10 percent) in March 2009 compared with March 2008. For the combined months of March and April 2009, visitor arrivals were down 2 percent on the same two months in 2008.

There were more visitors on holiday, up 14,200 (18 percent) in April 2009 compared with April 2008. There were more people visiting friends and relatives, up 9,600 (17 percent). By contrast, there were fewer visitors on business, down 5,300 (24 percent).

New Zealand resident short-term departures for April 2009 were down 1,900 (1 percent) from April 2008. This follows a decrease of 8,100 (6 percent) in March 2009 compared with March 2008.

Origin of guests

International visitors contributed 1.1 million guest nights in April 2009, down 24,000 (2 percent) from April 2008. Six of the 12 regions showed decreases in international guest nights, with the largest decreases recorded in:

• Auckland, down 22,000 (9 percent)
• Otago, down 13,000 (7 percent)
• Wellington, down 11,000 (13 percent).

The regions recording the largest increases were:

• Waikato, up 13,000 (21 percent)
• Northland, up 7,000 (12 percent)
• Nelson/Marlborough/Tasman, up 4,000 (6 percent).

For the two months ended April 2009, international guest nights were 8 percent lower than in the two months ended April 2008. Ten of the 12 regions showed decreases in international guest nights, with Auckland, Otago, and Wellington recording the largest decreases.

In April 2009, domestic guest nights were 1.7 million, up 140,000 (9 percent) from April 2008. Nine of the 12 regions showed increases in domestic guest nights, led by:

• Bay of Plenty, up 23,000 (15 percent)
• Waikato, up 22,000 (14 percent)
• Canterbury, up 20,000 (9 percent).

The Auckland region showed the largest decrease in domestic guest nights, down 7,000 (3 percent), followed by Southland, down 3,000 (7 percent).

For the two months ended April 2009, domestic guest nights were 1 percent lower than for the two months ended April 2008. Seven of the 12 regions showed decreases, led by Canterbury, Nelson/Marlborough/Tasman, and Otago.

In April 2009, there was a response rate of 71 percent to the Accommodation Survey question on 'origin of guests'. In April 2008, the response rate was 66 percent. Figures for those establishments that failed to respond have been imputed and such high levels of imputation can affect data quality, including comparisons between different months.

Guest nights by accommodation type

In April 2009 compared with April 2008, caravan parks/camping grounds had the largest increase in guest nights of all the accommodation types, up 128,000 (28 percent). Hotels had the largest decrease in guest nights, down 14,000 (2 percent).

In April 2009, motels had the largest share of total guest nights (32 percent), followed by hotels (31 percent) and caravan parks/camping grounds (21 percent).

In the two months ended April 2009, all five accommodation types had fewer guest nights than in the two months ended April 2008, led by:

• motels, down 124,000 (6 percent)
• hotels, down 68,000 (3 percent)
• caravan parks/camping grounds, down 55,000 (4 percent).

Occupancy rate

In April 2009, the occupancy rate, excluding caravan parks/camping grounds, was 50 percent, compared with 52 percent in April 2008. This is the lowest April occupancy rate since 1998.

Hotels had the highest occupancy rate (53 percent) of all the accommodation types in April 2009, followed by motels (50 percent) and backpackers/hostels (48 percent).

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Excluding the caravan parks/camping grounds category, eight of the 12 regions had lower occupancy rates in April 2009 than in April 2008. The leading occupancy rates were:

• Wellington (62 percent)
• Auckland (55 percent)
• Bay of Plenty (53 percent).

Response rates

When respondents do not answer questions in this survey, Statistics New Zealand estimates the missing information based on data from similar establishments in the same and/or similar areas. For more information, please see the technical notes of this release or contact Statistics New Zealand.

Survey sponsorship

The Accommodation Survey is a monthly survey undertaken by Statistics New Zealand and sponsored by the Ministry of Tourism.

For technical information contact:
Christine Sadler or Tehseen Islam
Christchurch 03 964 8700
Email: info@stats.govt.nz

Next release ...

Accommodation Survey: May 2009 will be released on 10 July 2009.