It was seen from the Statistics New Zealand that the guest nights that were spent in commercial short term accommodation were up by 2% in March to 3.3 million.

It was noted that the maximum regional increase was in Otago which was up by 7% or 27,000 from March 2009, whereas in the Bay of Plenty it was 7% or 19,000 rise and in Canterbury by 2% or 12,000 rise.

The main falls were in Hawke's Bay/Gisborne, down 6000 or 4 percent, and in Wellington which dropped 1 percent or 2000.

It was seen that in the month of March international visitors report 1.6m of the guest nights which was up by 42,000 or 3% from the previous year.

Otago had the biggest rise in international visitor nights with a gain of 25,000 or 10% whereas Bay of Plenty rose by 11,000 or 9% and West Coast by 7000 or 8%.

It was noted that Taranaki/Manawatu-Wanganui had the biggest falls and had a drop of 7000 or 18%, whereas Hawke's Bay/Gisborne was down by 5000 or 12% and Wellington with a downfall of 5000 or 5%.

A gain was seen in the domestic guest nights by 32,000 or 2% to 1.7m. In Taranaki/Manawatu-Wanganui it rose by 11,000 or 9% and Bay of Plenty by 9000 or 6%.