Over 40.4 million guests spent nights in New Zealand accommodation in 2018, a 2.3 percent increase from the year prior.
Additionally, half a million more guest nights were spent in New Zealand hotels throughout 2018 than in 2017.
Stats NZ believes this growth, particularly in hotel guest nights, was driven by the increased capacity of hotels. Almost 1,600 more hotel rooms were available in December 2018 than December 2017. Impressively, even with the increased supply, occupancy rates remained high, decreasing marginally from 69.8 percent in 2017 to 69.2 percent in 2018.
“The number of hotel rooms available in New Zealand fell after the Canterbury earthquakes in 2010 and 2011. Hotel capacity is now around pre-earthquake levels, supported by the recovery in Canterbury, as well as rooms opening up in other parts of the country," said Melissa McKenzie, accommodation and construction statistics manager, Stats NZ.
New Zealand’s annual hotel occupancy rate sat at about 55 percent in the 2000s but has since been sitting just below 70 percent.
