Accommodation in New Zealand's New Year's hotspots is close to full capacity - with demand for the summer season up by 66 per cent, according to new data.

Research from Bachcare shows international and domestic tourists visiting centres with limited accommodation space are turning to holiday home rentals, with forward bookings for short stay baches in Rotorua up 95 per cent, in Nelson up 71 per cent, and up 51 per cent in Taupo - over the previous year.

The shortage of supply during the peak season is set to boost the earnings of holiday homeowners - with a growing number on track to exceed $100,000 in annual revenue.

Nick Peirce, head of revenue for Bachcare, says the arrival of international tourists will contribute to a forecast annual increase in rental revenue of six per cent across the 2000+ homes it manages around New Zealand - throughout 2023.

He says prior to the pandemic, 15 per cent of their bookings came from international guests, however this will increase to 21 per cent over the coming summer.

'What we can see from the data is that overseas visitors are increasingly choosing holiday home rentals - and will make up over a fifth of our bookings during the coming peak season.

'These tourists are more likely to be from markets familiar with the bach rental model - such as the UK which make up 12 per cent of our summer bookings, Australia which make up six per cent and a further two per cent from North America.

'The feedback we are getting from this segment of international visitors is that holiday homes provide the flexibility to stay in regions in larger groups particularly where accommodation space is constrained at this time of year,” he says.

Peirce says their booking data shows the most popular destinations over New Year's, based on booking numbers, will be the Coromandel, Lake Taupo, Southern Lakes/Queenstown, Mount Maunganui/Papamoa and the Bay of Islands.

'There are a number of destinations with proximity to coastline or freshwater lakes which are close to selling out for New Year's Eve.

'Our top five centres already have occupancies above 90% for the first week of January 2023.

'These regions still have some capacity in the week prior to this however, with occupancy for the Coromandel at 76 per cent, Tauranga at 80 per cent, Queenstown Lakes at 71 per cent and Lake Taupo at 71 per cent.

'We are advising Kiwis looking to stay in these areas for the last week of December through to the start of the new year, to either book now or consider holidaying later in the summer,” he says.