Warning more tourist beds needed

Tourism Dunedin chief executive Jan Hindson said when contacted she was "a little stunned" by the figures for 2003, which indicated 335,098 visitors brought an estimated $460 million into the city and coastal Otago economy.

As well as a 26 per cent increase in visitor numbers, the total number of visitor nights spent in the city doubled to 1,185,793 in 2003. The industry was now second only to education in its contribution to the local economy.

The arrival of the Scenic Circle-branded Dunedin City Hotel, and plans for more beds in the former Wains Hotel and the Dunedin chief post office, both on Princes St, meant catering for increased demand for hotel beds was in hand.

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