For the year to November, Queenstown's hotels, motels, backpackers, and holiday parks accommodated 2.6million overseas guest nights, retaining its title as the number one South Island destination.
Across the country, combined domestic and international guests for the year to November rose 2.6% to 40.3million nights in short-term commercial accommodation, the fourth consecutive annual increase.
Otago Chamber of Commerce chief executive Dougal McGowan said the growth in guest nights and occupancy was good news for the entire region.
"It's great that both the domestic and international markets are growing. We don't want one to be at the expense of the other,'' he said.
He highlighted the data did not include online accommodation, freedom campers or cruise ship visitors, so the actual visitor numbers were much higher.
He cautioned on "killing the golden goose'' of tourism and the region should be targeting more high value tourists.
"There's already a huge infrastructure strain on the very small community in Queenstown,'' he said.
StatisticsNZ's accommodation and construction statistics manager Melissa McKenzie said the increased South Island international guest nights were consistent with international visitor arrivals, which were also up in Christchurch and Queenstown for November
"Both monthly and annually, more international guest nights were spent in Queenstown and Canterbury than anywhere else in the South Island,'' she said in a statement.
January guest nights - combined domestic and international - have exceeded 4.8million since 2016 and almost hit 5million last year.
Mr McGowan said 5million might be reached this month, given the marketing of New Zealand in China and Chinese New Year, starting in early February.
The SNZ data showed that for November South Island guest nights rose 9.7% in November, while Queenstown Airport booked a 14% increase in transtasman arrivals in December, to just below 60,000 passengers.
Including domestic arrivals, December's total was 219,293 and for the year to December, passenger numbers were up 11% to 2.24million.
Canterbury had a 23% increase in guest nights in November, followed by Queenstown at 6.9%, the Mackenzie Bsin, including Lake Tekapo; Wanaka; Fiordland; the West Coast and the Auckland region.
While South Island guest nights gained by 9.7%, the North Island dipped to 2.8% less overseas guest nights in short-term commercial accommodation.
- The survey is from guest nights at hotels, motels, backpackers and holiday parks, but excludes hosted and private accommodation, such as bed and breakfasts and holiday homes.
