Hotels await tough winter

Christchurch hotels face a difficult winter ahead, but trading should improve by next year despite the demands of filling extra hotel rooms which were becoming available in the city, the New Zealand Hotel Council says.

NZHC independent chairwoman Jennie Langley said that last year New Zealand's hotels were challenged by fewer international arrivals and increasing numbers of visitors booking at the last minute. "They also had to cope with the outbreak of swine flu and subsequent cancellations of core group and tour business," she told a 2009 annual operating survey in Christchurch.

In 2009, Christchurch hotels achieved the third highest annual occupancy rate of all NZHC members of 68.3 per cent behind Auckland with 69.7 per cent and Wellington on 69.4 per cent.

Christchurch had an average room rate of $117.40 a night last year compared with the national average of $130.10 and Wellington's top average rate of $142.90. The Garden City rate also equated to a 7.8 per cent reduction on 2008, compared with a national average drop of 5.7 per cent.

It was hard to gauge the impact of the addition of rooms becoming available in new Christchurch hotels including Novotel - with 193 rooms - and The Marque Christchurch - 171 rooms - on trading in the next period, Langley said. "We're quietly optimistic.

"Clearly, it's going to take some time while the different hotels ingest that new inventory coming in, but there's some good events in town," she said. "It's difficult, with the last- minute bookings, to know what the winter's going to be like, but nobody expects the winter to be good - the feeling is of quiet optimism but with the realism this is another tough year coming up."

It was harder to tell the longer-term impact of the new hotels, although again an increasing number of events such as the Ellerslie International Flower Show would help fill those rooms.

On Wednesday, NZHC members had visited Queenstown, where there were indications of good early bookings for this year's ski season.

The 2009 survey highlighted the importance of domestic and Australian visitors who buffered the industry from the significant reduction in some key long-haul markets. Kiwis accounted for 47.9 per cent of all rooms sold in Christchurch last year, followed by Australians at 21.3 per cent.

"Christchurch hotels were largely dependent on independent and leisure travellers, followed by corporate guests then tours and groups.

Christchurch's 26 NZHC members generated $149 million in revenue in 2009 from a total of more than 3300 rooms and they employed 1900 people. The city's members contributed $100m to the region through wages and salaries, food and beverage purchases, rates and other expenditure.

- © Fairfax NZ News