Accommodation Survey: November 2008

Total guest nights

Total guest nights in short-term commercial accommodation were 2.7 million in November 2008, a 4 percent decrease compared with November 2007 and a 2 percent decrease compared with November 2006.

The trend in total guest nights has been decreasing since September 2007, after increasing since January 2006. The trend level is now 3 percent lower than the peak in September 2007, but is still 3 percent higher than the previous low point in January 2006. 

 

Guest nights by island

Guest nights in the North Island were 1.5 million in November 2008, a 4 percent decrease compared with November 2007 and a 2 percent decrease compared with November 2006.

The trend for North Island guest nights has been decreasing since October 2007, after increasing since January 2006. The trend level is now 5 percent lower than the October 2007 peak, but is still 2 percent higher than the previous low point in January 2006. 

 

Guest nights in the South Island were 1.1 million in November 2008, a 5 percent decrease compared with November 2007 and a 3 percent decrease compared with November 2006. This is the lowest figure for a November month since November 2003.

The trend for South Island guest nights has been gradually decreasing since the series peaked in September 2007 and is now 3 percent lower than this high point.

 

Guest nights by region

In November 2008, nine of the 12 regions recorded fewer guest nights than in November 2007, with the following regions showing the largest decreases:

• Bay of Plenty (down 32,000 or 13 percent)
• Auckland (down 32,000 or 6 percent)
• Otago (down 29,000 or 8 percent).

The Wellington region had the largest increase, up 6,000 or 2 percent. 

Comparison with short-term overseas visitor arrival statistics

International Travel and Migration: November 2008 shows that short-term overseas visitor arrivals to New Zealand in November 2008 were down 9,500 (4 percent) from November 2007. This fall follows a decrease of 6,000 (3 percent) in October 2008 compared with October 2007.

There were fewer visitors on holiday (down 8,200 or 7 percent), on business (down 3,400 or 13 percent) and visiting friends and relatives (down 300 or less than 1 percent) in November 2008 compared with November 2007.

New Zealand resident short-term departures for November 2008 were down 4,300 (3 percent) from November 2007. This fall followed an increase of 7,800 (5 percent) in October 2008 compared with October 2007.

Origin of guests

International visitors contributed 1.3 million guest nights in November 2008, down 109,000 or 8 percent from November 2007. Eleven of the 12 regions showed decreases in international guest nights, led by:

• Auckland (down 30,000 or 11 percent)
• Bay of Plenty (down 23,000 or 18 percent)
• Canterbury (down 18,000 or 7 percent)
• Otago (down 13,000 or 6 percent).

Northland was the only region to show an increase in international guest nights, up 5,000 or 8 percent. 

 

In November 2008, domestic guest nights were 1.4 million, down 10,000 or 1 percent from November 2007. Five of the 12 regions showed decreases in domestic guest nights, led by:

• Otago (down 15,000 or 11 percent)
• Bay of Plenty (down 9,000 or 7 percent)
• Northland (down 9,000 or 15 percent).

The Wellington region showed the largest increase in domestic guest nights, up 12,000 or 8 percent. 

 
In November 2008, there was a response rate of 70 percent to the Accommodation Survey question on 'origin of guests'. In November 2007, there was a response rate of 63 percent to the question on 'origin of guests'. 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 November 2008, guest nights decreased for all five accommodation types compared with November 2007. Motels had the largest decrease, down 80,000 (9 percent), followed by caravan parks/camping grounds, down 12,000 (3 percent) and hotels, down 12,000 (1 percent). Hosted accommodation was down 8,000 (15 percent) and backpackers/hostels were down 8,000 (2 percent).

The trend in motel guest nights has been decreasing since August 2007 and is now 10 percent lower than this high point. Prior to the August 2007 peak, the trend series had generally been increasing for a decade. The trend series is now at its lowest level in five years.

 

In November 2008, hotels had the largest share of total guest nights (37 percent), followed by motels (31 percent) and caravan parks/camping grounds (16 percent).

Occupancy rate

In November 2008, the occupancy rate, excluding caravan parks/camping grounds, was 52 percent, compared with 56 percent in November 2007.

Accommodation capacity, excluding caravan parks/camping grounds, was 4 percent above the November 2007 level.

Hotels had the highest occupancy rate (62 percent) of all the accommodation types in November 2008, followed by motels (52 percent) and backpackers/hostels (43 percent).

Excluding the caravan parks/camping grounds category, the Auckland region had the highest occupancy rate (67 percent) in November 2008, followed by Wellington (62 percent). 

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Response rates

When respondents do not answer questions in this survey, Statistics NZ 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 us.

Survey sponsorship

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

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

Next release ...

Accommodation Survey: December 2008 will be released on 12 February 2009.