Falling visitor numbers hit New Zealand accommodation sector

WELLINGTON, Nov. 12 (Xinhua) -- Falling numbers of overseas visitors drove down guest nights stayed in New Zealand's commercial accommodation sector in September, the government statistics agency announced Monday.

Overall guest nights in hotels, motels, holiday parks and backpacker accommodation were 1.4 percent down month on month in September, following a 2.6-percent rise in August, according to Statistics New Zealand.

"We had fewer international guest nights, and domestic guest nights were also down slightly," industry and labor statistics manager Blair Cardno said in a statement.

"Backpackers were the only accommodation type to have a rise in seasonally adjusted guest nights," he said, referring to the budget accommodation of independent travelers.

International guest nights were dow 4.7 percent in September, following an unchanged rate in August, according to the agency's Accommodation Survey.

Its International Travel and Migration statistics released last month showed 179,100 short-term visitors arrived in New Zealand in September, down 3.3 percent compared with August.

The trend for international guest nights had been generally falling since a high point in September 2011, when New Zealand hosted the Rugby World Cup.

The national trend for guest nights has generally been declining since December 2009, according to the Accommodation Survey.

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