Queenstown has hit record guest nights for the first quarter of 2015 with a total of 919,103 guest nights for the period of January – March 2015, according to the Statistics New Zealand’s Commercial Accommodation Monitor (CAM) released today.
Following a year of steady growth in visitor nights, the start of 2015 is continuing the trend with the first quarter up 4.8% over the same period in 2014, representing a total growth in guest nights of 41,687, and figures for March 2015 indicating a growth of 7.5%, an increase of 20,168 guest nights.
For the year ending March 2015, Queenstown’s total guest nights rose by 8.7% with both international and domestic visitor guest nights increasing. The average length of stay also increased from 2.63 to 2.72 nights and total occupancy growing from 56.8% to 61.9%.
Destination Queenstown CEO Graham Budd said the record first quarter supported positive anecdotal reports from local operators.
“These have confirmed our expectations that the summer season saw significantly increased international visitor numbers from our key markets, while domestic popularity for Queenstown is only slightly down against the prior year after several years of strong growth. Occupancy rates are well up and yield is also improving which is really positive for business profitability and re-investment.”
“Not only have commercial accommodation properties benefitted from visitor growth however, as the business benefits have been widespread and most operators have reported a very good summer. The latest Regional Tourism Indicator (RTI) figures also suggest an international expenditure increase of between 17%-25% over these summer months which continues a really positive trend of being well ahead of volume of growth for the same period,” Mr Budd says.
This growth is inline with Queenstown Airport’s expansion which has seen new routes and increased capacity over the last 12 months, and Queenstown’s worldwide reputation as a four season resort.
May 2015
Source: Destination Queenstown
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