(RTTNews) - Wednesday, a report by Statistics New Zealand said guest nights in short-term accommodations fell 5% year-on-year in September, the fourth consecutive month of decline. Guest nights totaled 2.2 million in the month.

Within the regions and islands, guest nights in North Island declined 6% year-on-year to 1.3 million, while guest nights in South Island fell 4% to 0.9 million.

The largest decrease in guest nights among the regions was in the Bay of Plenty, which reported a 17% decline. Guest nights declined 10% in Waikato, 7% in Otago and 3% in Auckland.

Based on the type of accommodations, motels had the steepest decline in guest nights in September.

On a trend basis, total guest nights have been declining since October 2007, after rising from February 2006. The trend level was 3% lower than the peak in October 2007, but higher by 3% compared to the recent low in January 2006.

In September, domestic guest nights totaled 1.3 million. Auckland had the highest number of domestic guest nights, followed by Canterbury and Waikato.

On the other hand, international visitors contributed 0.9 million guest nights in September 2008. The Auckland region had the highest number of international guest nights, followed by Otago and Canterbury. These three regions combined represented 62% of total international guest nights in September.

Meanwhile, short-term overseas visitor arrivals into New Zealand fell 7% year-on-year in September, following a 1% fall in August.

Short-term departures by New Zealand residents fell 8% compared with a 1% drop in August.

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