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Horwath HTL has released the latest market report for August 2026 that shows New Zealand’s hotels earned $202.45 million for the month, up 11.3 per cent on the same month last year – but pull the regional numbers apart and those gains aren’t being shared equally.
Occupancy climbed 2.57 points to 67.7 per cent. ADR rose 6.0 per cent to $217.75. RevPAR was up 10.2 per cent to $147.38 which was the biggest gain of all three.
Queenstown and Christchurch
Queenstown had the best month of anyone with occupancy up 3.51 points to 81.6 per cent, the highest in the country, with ADR up 12.3 per cent to $366.34 and revenue up 18.2 per cent to $44.15 million. Christchurch had the biggest occupancy gain nationally – up 5.25 points to 76.0 per cent – with RevPAR up 14.4 per cent and revenue to match. Auckland added a further $63.5 million, up 14.0 per cent, making it close to a third of the national total on its own.
Add Rotorua, Hawke’s Bay and Nelson-Marlborough to Auckland and Christchurch, and together they did well with occupancy up 3.68 points, RevPAR up 10.1 per cent, revenue up 11.9 per cent. But take them out, and the rest of the country barely moved with occupancy down 0.19 points, RevPAR up just 4.7 per cent. Most of the growth happened in those five cities, just not everywhere.
Rotorua
Rotorua had the worst month of any market with occupancy down 5.10 points to 51.2 per cent, RevPAR down 5.3 per cent. Nelson-Marlborough sits at the bottom of the occupancy ladder at 47.0 per cent, down 1.98 points, with revenue down 4.6 per cent. Wellington’s occupancy fell 1.29 points to 58.8 per cent, and even a 1.7 per cent ADR rise wasn’t enough to stop RevPAR slipping. Hamilton’s occupancy actually rose, but a 2.9 per cent drop in ADR still dragged RevPAR down 1.0 per cent.
Comparing this to August 2019 and things changes. National occupancy is still nine points lower than then 67.7 per cent now against 76.6 per cent in 2019 even though revenue keeps rising. Hotels have added 21 per cent more rooms since 2019, so there are more rooms to fill. RevPAR is 9.7 per cent higher than 2019 in dollar terms, but that’s down to six years of rate rises, not fuller hotels. ADR is up 24 per cent over the same period.
Auckland
Auckland gives the best example. It’s selling almost 20 per cent more room-nights than in 2019, but RevPAR is still 8 per cent below its 2019 level. Auckland hotels are working harder for less. Rotorua is the opposite: room-nights sold are still 18.6 per cent below 2019, but higher rates have pushed RevPAR 9.3 per cent above 2019 levels. This year’s occupancy drop shows that won’t last forever.
