While some hotel markets celebrated their best July in years, others faced a significant drop in demand. Find out which factors separated the leaders from the laggards in our latest hotel performance review.
July 2025 brought another mixed performance across New Zealand’s hotel sector, according to Hotel Data New Zealand (HDNZ). Changing international travel patterns, a still-soft domestic market, and region-specific factors influenced an overall 1.1% decline in Revenue per Available Room (RevPAR). While overall visitor arrivals moved closer to pre-pandemic levels, remaining global uncertainties and local economic headwinds continued to temper the pace of recovery.
International visitor arrivals rose 4% compared to July 2024, reaching 92% of pre-COVID volumes. Australia led the growth, with arrivals climbing 13% to 152,142, lifted by the targeted Tourism New Zealand campaign. Notably, 68% of Australian visitors landed in the South Island, reflecting both the popularity of the ski-season and competitive air capacity.
In contrast, arrivals from the People’s Republic of China fell 18% to 37,362, a reversal from last year’s strong World Choir Games-related demand. The United States market also weakened, with arrivals dropping to a two-and-a-half-year low of 10,473. For the January–July period, preliminary figures show total international arrivals up circa 3.8% year-on-year but still 12.3% below the same period in 2019.
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