Rotorua Hoteliers Record Strong First Quarter

Rotorua Hoteliers Record Strong First Quarter

Numerous events and a significant increase in Chinese visitors in the first quarter of 2013 meant Rotorua hotels enjoyed good gains in occupancy and room rate compared to the same time last year.

New figures presented at the Tourism Industry Association New Zealand (TIA) Regional Roadshow in Rotorua today show that while 2012 was a lacklustre year for the region, 2013 started off more strongly.

“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 Rotorua’s 10 TIA Hotel members:

• had a 64.1% occupancy rate, down 1.1 points compared to 2011 (65.2%). This was below the national TIA Hotels’ occupancy of 69.9% which includes the high performing Christchurch hotels that tend to drive the national occupancy up

• achieved an average room rate (ARR) of $101.60 which was down $7 compared to 2011[1]  

• generated over $56 million in revenue from a total of 1502 rooms

• employed over 850 people and contributed around $45 million to the region through wages and salaries, food and beverage purchases, rates and other expenditure.

“While many TIA hotel regions made steady gains in occupancy and ADR in 2012, Rotorua was a little slower out of the blocks. However, the city appears to have more than made up for it in the first quarter of 2013. February in particular was a fantastic month for hotels with a number of large scale events filling town including Te Matatini Kapa Haka Nationals, the 2013 Australasia IPSC Handgun Championships, the inaugural Rotorua Bike Festival, Raggamuffin 2013 and Chinese New Year,” Ms Shadbolt says.

“March also continued to perform well, ending the first quarter occupancy up 7 points on 79.2% and room rates up $9 to $86.

“The China market has performed very well in the first quarter and is now the second largest market on 18% of guest nights. The domestic market remains the number one market for hotels on 43% and Australia has been relegated to third place on 10%.”

Today’s Regional Roadshow participants were 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.

“At the same time, domestic tourism continues to be the mainstay for many tourism businesses and we need to look at how to encourage more New Zealanders to travel around their own country. Never has there been a more important time to focus on where the industry is going and how we are going to get there.”

TIA’s Regional Roadshow is visiting 10 centres around New Zealand between March and June. It is sponsored by TIA commercial partners Telecom, Westpac, Mercury Energy and JLT/Lumley. Go to www.tianz.org.nz/main/2013TIARegionalRoadshow for dates and venues.

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 earlier this month
• 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 average room rate 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).

TIA Hotel Sector

TIA’s hotel sector represents the interests of over 130 members throughout New Zealand, including international chain, large independent and privately owned hotels. TIA hotel sector members employ 11,000 staff nationally, with annual revenues of more than $866 million.

[1] The downward shift in ARR year on year can be attributed to the exceptional changes in business patterns created by Rugby World Cup 2011.  Strong demand led to strong event driven room rates in 2011.

ENDS

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