WELLINGTON, July 12 (Xinhua) -- Commercial guest nights in New Zealand were up 7.3 percent in May year-on-year, with increases in all the regions, the country's statistic department Stats NZ said on Wednesday.
The biggest rises were in Canterbury, Bay of Plenty, Auckland and Northland, Stats NZ said. The Accommodation Survey collects data for guests staying in short-term commercial hotels, motels, backpacker accommodation, and holiday parks in New Zealand each month. Private accommodation is excluded.
The increase in Canterbury was driven by more guest nights in the Mackenzie district and helped by Kaikoura guest nights recovering to similar levels as last year.
In the months after the November 2016 earthquakes that struck hard in Kaikoura, guest nights in Kaikoura were 30 to 80 percent lower than the same months of the previous year, accommodation statistics manager Melissa McKenzie said.
"It appears the combination of a slower winter month and construction workers staying in Kaikoura have helped May guest nights recover," McKenzie said.
The British and Irish Lions rugby tour, which had its first game in Northland in early June, may have had some impact in May, which will likely be clearer in next month's accommodation figures, she said.
Guest nights for May fell 2.5 percent compared with April, retreating from some of the gains in March and April, according to Stats NZ.
