In the year ended December 2018, guests spent 40.4 million nights in hotels, motels, backpackers, and holiday parks, up 2.3 percent from 39.5 million in 2017. Over half of that growth was from nights spent in hotels, which numbered 14.5 million.

The growth in hotel guest nights was supported by increased capacity. Nearly 1,600 more hotel rooms were available by December 2018 than in December 2017. Even with more rooms available, the occupancy rate for hotels remained relatively high (falling slightly from 69.8 percent in 2017, to 69.2 percent in 2018), reflecting more nights spent in hotels.

Annual hotel occupancy rates hovered around 55 percent throughout the 2000s, but rose steadily from 2012 to almost 70 percent in recent years.

“The number of hotel rooms available in New Zealand fell after the Canterbury earthquakes in 2010 and 2011,” accommodation and construction statistics manager Melissa McKenzie said. “Hotel capacity is now around pre-earthquake levels, supported by recovery in Canterbury, as well as more rooms opening up in other parts of the country.”

Click here to view the Stats NZ website.

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