Steady trading enjoyed by Central Park hoteliers   16 Jul 2013

Tourism Industry Association

Numerous events and a long hot summer meant Central Park hotels enjoyed increased occupancy and steady room rates compared to the same time last year.

New figures presented at the Hawkes Bay Tourism Update in Napier today show that while 2012 was a lacklustre year for the region (which includes Napier, Gisborne, Taupo and Tongariro), 2013 started off more strongly.

“While many TIA hotel regions made steady gains in occupancy and average daily rate (ADR) in 2012, Central Park was slightly more challenged on occupancy growth but managed to maintain very good room rates. The first quarter of 2013 also started off well. February, in particular, was a fantastic month for hotels with a number of large scale events filling the region, including the Art Deco Weekend and the Mission Concert which helped boost business in Napier, along with the Pat Benatar concert in Taupo, the Around the Lake Relay and the National Marching Championships.

“After a very eventful 2011 with the Rugby World Cup and the Christchurch earthquake changing visitor flows significantly, 2012 was relatively uneventful for most regions. This offered hotels an opportunity to adjust to the new post-GFC business environment of shifts in visitor markets, the increasingly short lead nature of bookings and people remaining very price conscious,” TIA Hotels Sector Manager Rachael Shadbolt says.

TIA Hotels 2012 Annual Operating Survey shows that Central Parks’ seven TIA Hotel members:

had a 50.4% occupancy rate, down 2 points compared to 2011 (52.3%). This was below the national TIA Hotels’ occupancy of 69.9% (this includes the high performing Christchurch hotels which drives the national occupancy rate up)
achieved an ADR of $156.60 which was on a par with 2011 – a good result given 2011 was influenced by RWC event driven rates. This put Central Park in first place for ADR across the eight TIA Hotel Regions, followed by Christchurch
generated over $34 million in revenue from a total of 664 rooms
employed over 540 people and contributed around $25 million to the region through wages and salaries, food and beverage purchases, rates and other expenditure.

Today’s audience was also updated on the development of a National Tourism Plan.

TIA Chief Executive Martin Snedden says tourism is one of New Zealand’s biggest export industries but there is no clear national plan in place to lead the industry forward.

“Tourism has faced rapidly changing trading conditions over the last few years as a result of the global financial crisis, the growing number of visitors from Asian markets and the impact of the Christchurch earthquakes,” Mr Snedden says.

“Never has there been a more important time to focus on where the industry is going and how we are going to get there.”

Other highlights from the TIA Hotels Annual Operating Survey 2012:

TIA Hotel sector members directly employed almost 11,000 permanent and casual staff
Christchurch achieved the highest annual occupancy of 81.6%, down 3.4 points compared to 2011 (85%). Christchurch continues to be constrained by reduced hotel inventory but hotels are starting to reopen with Ibis Christchurch reopening in late 2012 and the Rendezvous in May
Auckland achieved the second highest annual occupancy rate of 75.6%, followed by Wellington (72.6%) and Rotorua (64.1%)
The Central Park region (Taupo, Tongariro, Napier and Gisborne) had the highest ADR of $157, followed by Christchurch ($152) and Wellington ($141)
The largest individual source of business was independent leisure travellers (45% of all rooms sold, up 5 points compared with 2011), followed by corporate (21%) and tours & groups (17%)
The largest consumer groups of hotel accommodation in 2012 were New Zealanders (55% of all rooms sold), followed by Australians (16%)
On average, 39% of bookings were short-term (made up to seven days prior to arrival), 34% were medium-term (8-30 days prior to arrival) and 27% were long-term (more than 30 days prior to arrival).

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