Queenstown getting more visitors

Temperatures might have dropped in Queenstown this week but latest figures show the resort was continuing to have a "scorching" summer as far as guest nights go – again recording the largest increase in the country.

Statistics New Zealand's Commercial Accommodation Monitor released yesterday shows the resort's guest nights increased by 33,000 in January to 271,643, up 14 per cent on January last year.

Wanaka guest nights were down 1 per cent for the month at 101,844, while Central Otago guest nights took the biggest hit, down 16.3 per cent for the month to 79,040, the figures show.

Destination Queenstown chief executive Tony Everitt said Queenstown was continuing to have a scorching summer and the January figures, coupled with December's 24,000 guest night increase, were "truly fantastic results".

January was a record month for New Zealand with overnight stays in commercial accommodation up by 4 per cent, compared with January last year. The month's guest night numbers of 4.4million were the highest recorded since the monitor survey began in 1996.

Queenstown's international visitors accounted for 68.1 per cent of guest nights, up 17.2 per cent, compared with January 2009, to 185,105. Domestic guest nights increased by 7.6 per cent to 86,538.

The figures also show that Queenstown's overall occupancy rate rose from 56.6 per cent to 66.6 per cent and the average length of stay rose slightly from 2.3 nights to 2.31 nights.

Mr Everitt said the local tourism industry was doing a great job this summer, achieving positive growth in what had been a challenging economic climate.

He said he hoped DQ could keep the momentum going, successfully marketing the resort nationally and internationally.

DQ chairman Mark Quickfall said last winter had been "quite astounding", with Australian numbers well up during the ski season.

Those big numbers of Australians visitors had continued throughout the summer.

It was encouraging for Queenstown operators that national predictions of a year ago of a 20 to 30 per cent drop in business for New Zealand tourism operators this summer had not eventuated.

Even though operators were "not doing backward somersaults when compared with the double-digit growth of a few years ago, the resort was enjoying a relatively strong summer.

- © Fairfax NZ News

Newest First

Oldest First