Total guest nights gained 1.4% to 2.67 million in September from the same month a year earlier, Statistics New Zealand has said.
Guest nights in the North Island dropped 1% while South Island guest nights increased 5.2%.
Domestic guest nights rose 7% in the South Island, while international guest nights were up 3.4%.
In the North Island, domestic guest nights fell 2.9% and international guest nights rose 3.3%.
``South Island guest nights stood out this month,'' accommodation statistics manager Melissa McKenzie said in a statement.
``When compared with the same month of the previous year, South Island guest nights have increased six months in a row, following a brief period of falls influenced by the Kaikoura earthquake.
``The continuous growth over the last six months has been reflected in almost every region in the South Island,'' she said.
New Zealand has been experiencing record tourism in recent years, putting a strain on infrastructure, which has often struggled to keep up with demand.
Eight of the country's 12 regional areas reported more guest nights in September, with Otago up 5.2% and Canterbury rising 4.8%.
The biggest decreases were seen in Northland, down 4.3%, and Auckland which dropped 4%.
Hotel guest nights rose 4.2% from September 2016 to 1.07 million, while motel nights fell 1.4% to 890,000 and backpacker stays slipped 2.2% to 326,000.
Holiday parks rose 3.5% to 382,000.
Hotel occupancy edged up 1.5 percentage points to 65.6%, while the holiday park rate was unchanged at 12.7% and the backpacker rate advanced 0.1 percentage points to 35.9%.
Meanwhile, the motel rate slipped 1 percentage point to 54.1%.
