The number of commercial guest nights in New Zealand shows a slight increase for the month of August.

But in the South Island, guest nights fell 4.1% during the month.

North Island guest nights rose 2.3%.

Overall the drop was mostly in international guests nights.

Business was up slightly for backpacker accommodation, but there were falls in motels, hotels and holiday parks.

The unadjusted number of national guest nights for August was 3.3% higher than in August last year.