A recently released Stats NZ survey indicating that guest nights are up in New Zealand – and the Bay is helping drive that growth.

New Zealand's total guest nights increased 4.8 percent to 3.1 million in October 2017 compared with October 2016, according to the Stats NZ Accommodation Survey for October 2017.

International guest nights were up five per cent to 1,304,000 and domestic guest nights were up 4.6 per cent to 1,843,000.

Bay of Plenty MP Todd Muller is thrilled to see the strong results.

'It's great to see New Zealand is still performing strongly when it comes to attracting international visitors, allowing us to showcase the best of our culture and natural beauty to the world. When it comes to culture and natural beauty, you can't go past the Bay.

'It's also really encouraging to see strong growth in domestic guest nights. This is what a strong, growing economy allows – kiwi families have a little more cash in their back pocket to enjoy things like family holidays.

'This is why the previous National government had such a relentless focus on sensible economic policies that encouraged growth and employment.

'Guest nights for all four accommodation types – hotels, motels, backpackers and holiday parks – all rose in this report, suggesting a wide cross-section of New Zealand society is exploring their own backyard.

'This is great news for our local tourism and hospitality industries heading into a busy summer season.”

In the Bay of Plenty, guest nights are up 9.2 per cent to 321,000 – almost twice the national average,

'That nights means we saw an additional 27,000 visitors this year,” says Todd.

'It's easy to begin to view these numbers in an abstract kind of way, but each and every one of those 321,000 came to the Bay, experienced what we have to offer and spent money in our local economy.

'Tourism Bay of Plenty is doing such a fantastic job promotiefits.”