Tourist accommodation up 11.4% year-on-year

Total income for SA's tourist accommodation industry rose by 11.4% year-on-year in nominal terms (current prices) in May‚ Statistics SA's (Stats SA) tourist accommodation survey released on Monday showed.

The survey is conducted monthly and covers a sample of public and private enterprises involved in the short stay accommodation industry‚ with the results used to compile estimates of tourism satellite accounts as well as the gross domestic product.

Stats SA said that income from accommodation only‚ increased by 9.0% year on year in May‚ the result of a 4.0% increase in the number of stay-unit nights sold and a 4.9% increase in the average income per stay-unit night sold.

Stats SA describes a stay-unit as a unit of accommodation available to be charged out to guests. Examples include a powered site in a caravan park or a hotel room.

The types of accommodation that recorded the highest year-on-year growth rates in income from accommodation in May were other accommodation (14.1%)‚ caravan parks and camping sites (7.9%) and hotels (7.7%).

The main contributors to the 9.0% year-on-year increase in income from accommodation in May were hotels‚ which contributed 5.4 percentage points‚ and other accommodation‚ with a contribution of 3.4 percentage points.

Income from accommodation rose by 10.1% in the three months ended May this year compared with the three months ended May last year‚ with the main contributors being hotels and other accommodation.