Data

Queenstown’s hotel market appears to have bottomed out with average weekly occupancy hovering around 56% for the past couple of weeks, according to figures from STR.

Air New Zealand passenger numbers in the year to April 2023 reached 1.25 million, down just 12.6% on the 1.43 million carried in 2019.

TRENZ 2023 at Te Pae Christchurch saw the southern city report the best occupancy rates of the country’s major hotel markets.

Wellington’s occupancy rate bounced back last week after sliding for most of March and April, although the lift may prove to be shortlived.

International visitor arrivals in March are just shy of an 80% recovery compared to pre-Covid 2019, according to data from Stats NZ.

Electronic card transactions in hospitality for April have increased by 15.5% compared to the same month last year, according to Stats NZ.

Hotel occupancy across Auckland fell after the series of holidays enjoyed in April, which started with Easter, followed by the end of term one school holidays, and then ANZAC Day last week.

Most of New Zealand’s major hotel markets managed to arrest the autumn occupancy slide seen in March to bounce back in April.

The number of filled jobs in the accommodation and food services sector reached 18,101 in March 2023, up 12.9% on the same month last year, according to Stats NZ.

Queenstown received a small bump in occupancy during the Easter break and the first week of the school holidays, according to figures from STR.

Wellington’s hotel market has cooled with the average weekly occupancy high of 87% seen in late February sliding below 60% in the week to Easter.

With all of the country’s major hotel markets sliding into the middle of autumn, Christchurch appears to be holding up best.

The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment is inviting expressions of interest for the Tourism Data Leadership Group.

New Zealand’s major hotel markets appear to have experienced a rarity during the recovery – a steady, stable month not unduly influenced by weather extremes, strong growth due to border openings, or any other major issue, save possibly ongoing capacity constraints due to staff shortages.

The annual Whangamata Beach Hop event has contributed to a rise in visitor numbers to the Coromandel.

The West Coast is gaining appeal as a destination for domestic visitors to stay longer and include it as part of their travels around the country, according to new research from Development West Coast.

Air New Zealand passenger numbers in February 2023 exceeded 1.2 million, about 15% below the 1.41 million carried for the same month in pre-Covid 2019.

The country’s largest hotel market has seen off summer’s extreme weather to stabilise at just above 80% occupancy since late February.

Average weekly occupancy across Queenstown has remained stable at around 75% – 80% since early February, indicating good demand from international visitors, who typically give the resort a boost after Kiwis return to work and school.

The United States was the strongest recovering visitor market in January 2023, with arrivals totalling 40,091, according to Stats NZ’s latest travel numbers.

Christchurch’s strong run of occupancy growth came to an end last week, with the city’s hotel market sliding back for the first time since the post-Elton John bump in late January.

The value of hotel, motel and other short-term accommodation consents dropped to $12m in January 2023, according to Stats NZ’s latest building data.

Ed Sheeran’s concert at Wellington’s Sky Stadium in early February gave the capital’s hotel market a timely shot in the arm following the summer slumber.

The country’s hotel market continued to strengthen into late summer despite the extreme weather seen in parts of North Island.

New international visitor forecasts, better data on domestic visitation and regional flows, and measuring the impact on communities are among the initiatives proposed by a report into the state of New Zealand’s tourism insight.

Average weekly occupancy across Auckland has been climbing steadily since the start of the year with the impacts of the city’s destructive deluge three weeks ago on its hotel market seen as a shortlived dip.

Queenstown occupancy has slid to the end of summer – as expected – but appears to be flattening out at around 66.6%

Elton John appeared to give Christchurch’s hotel market a welcome boost with his concert at Orangetheory Stadium attracting 27,000 fans.

Air New Zealand recorded 1.607 million passengers for the month of December 2022, a 139.1% rise from the same month in 2021.

After average weekly occupancy fell to 40% during Christmas, Wellington’s hotel market is back on the rise as people return to work and government gets going.

New Zealand’s biggest hotel market is headed back up after the week leading to Christmas saw it drop below 50% occupancy for the first time in months, according to figures from STR.

Salaries in the hospitality and tourism sector have risen 9% year-on-year, according to new data from Trade Me Jobs.

The trans-Tasman bubble in 2021 helped lift tourism of its pandemic lows in 2020.

All of New Zealand’s major hotel markets saw occupancy slip at the start of December, according to figures from STR.

Occupancy reaches a peak at the resort thanks to the return of its annual marathon.

Of the country’s major hotel markets, Wellington appears to have come out of spring the strongest with average weekly occupancy mostly above 80% since mid-October, according to figures from STR.

Almost all of New Zealand’s major hotel markets are finishing spring stronger than they started, according to figures from STR.

Total guest nights reached 3.1 million in October 2022, or 93% of the level reported for the same month in pre-Covid 2018, according to the latest Accommodation Data Programme.

A good October has turned into an even better November for Christchurch’s hotel market, according to figures from STR.

Tourism businesses want to see changes to publicly-available data sources that meet the need for more timely, accurate, and centralised information, according to findings from the Tourism Data Leadership Group’s industry survey.

Auckland is back on the rise after suffering a mid-October occupancy and ADR drop, according to figures from STR.

Queenstown occupancy and ADR appear to have stabilised at a new post-Covid ‘normal’ – at least for late spring – according to figures from STR.

A steady climb in occupancy across the country since early September pushes the rate up to a 2022 high.

Christchurch has hit an occupancy high for 2022 after a long climb from the Omicron-impacted doldrums of March this year.

The capital is having a strong spring with the return of the World of WearableArt after three years helping to drive occupancy and ADR.

After spending most of the year struggling to crack 50% occupancy, Auckland is finally on the move with the major metrics all trending in the right direction.

Average weekly occupancy and ADR have slid from their winter highs at Queenstown but the October school holidays will hopefully give the resort another spring boost.

Average weekly occupancy across all of New Zealand barely budged over winter, hovering around 55% since early July 2022, according to figures from STR.

It is still early days in the recovery but could Wellington’s crown as the country’s best-performing hotel market for the past two-and-a-half years finally be slipping?

Christchurch has enjoyed an improving occupancy rate this year, recovering from an Omicron low in mid-March to reach 66% on average across the city in late-August, according to STR.