By Helmo Preuss

Income from tourism accommodation rose by 13.9% year on year (y/y) to R1.2 billion according to data published by Statistics SA (Stats SA) on Monday.

The increase in revenue from accommodation was due to a 10.9% y/y rise in stay units sold, while the average income per unit only gained 2.7% y/y, which is less than half the 6.1% y/y rise in consumer inflation in November.

The probable reason for the low average price rise is that consumers opted for lower priced accommodation, as accommodation income at caravan parks and camping sites soared by 209.1% y/y to R10.2 million. Guest houses and guest farms showed a 46.6% y/y rise to R99.1 million, while hotels had a 12.5% y/y increase to R858.3 million. The top end "other accommodation" category had the slowest y/y increase of 6.1% to R241.8 million.

Income from accommodation for the three months ended November 2011 increased by 9.6% y/y. This increase was due to a rise of 6.8% y/y in the number of stay unit nights sold and a gain of 2.6% y/y in the average income per stay unit night sold.

Source: I-Net Bridge