Surge in domestic, international tourist numbers lifts mood

An increase in international and domestic tourism over December and January has surprised accommodation providers and boosted hopes for tourism numbers this year.

The December statistics for paid accommodation nights showed a 4 per cent increase over the same month in 2008. A 7 percent jump in international guests, weighted towards the South Island, boosted a smaller rise in domestic tourism.

Hotel Council chairwoman Jennie Langley said numerous events around the country had encouraged travel but the numbers were compared with the 2008-2009 holiday period, which was low. However, businesses were reporting December and January had been better than forecast.

"There's more of a level of confidence now that things are slowly panning out and starting to recover," she said. "The question is, to what level will they recover?"

Short-term booking was still the norm and she said hoteliers were getting used to it and changing their pricing strategies to reflect the uncertainty.

"It creates challenges with staffing and planning, but they know it is down to doing the best possible business on the day. They can no longer rely on taking long-term bookings and just fill the gaps."

Pricing was extremely variable because of that and there were no guarantees that travellers would get a deal on a given day, but Ms Langley said many still waited till last minute to try to secure cut-price rates.

"Hotels have got a lot smarter about their pricing levels and are thinking about what is important to their guests so they can keep them longer," she said.

Positively Wellington Tourism chief executive David Perks said some hotels had reported improvements in January of up to 15 per cent compared with the same month last year. "Anecdotally, it seems domestic travel was up right across the country over December and January. That would have helped."

The mood was good for the year ahead, boosted by the bumper start, but it was still "wait and see" for the mid-year down season.

Despite the late surge, numbers for the 2009 year were still down on the previous year with a 3 per drop in international guest nights the main driver. Domestic accommodation nights dipped less than 1 per cent for the year.

- © Fairfax NZ News