Hotel performance in Australia shows signs of
"normalizing" and "strengthening in corporate business,"
according to hospitality analytics firm STR.
From January to July, Australia's hotel occupancy was 68.2
percent, up 9.8 percent year over year and trailing pre-pandemic levels by just
6 percent, STR reported. During the same time period, average daily rate was A$234.46
(US$151.79), up 7.4 percent year over year and 22.4 percent above 2019. Revenue
per available room has been above 2019 levels since April 2022, according to
the firm, but no RevPAR metrics were provided in the report.
The ADR growth shows an uplift in corporate demand, Matthew Burke,
STR regional director of the Pacific region, Central South Asia and Japan, said
in a statement.
The surge in Australia's domestic leisure travel demand peaked in
2022 and volume has been shifting more to "capital cities … on the days
most associated with corporate demand," he said. Monday through Wednesday
occupancy in Australia grew the most against last year and has maintained
consistent growth in recent months. It reached 98 percent of pre-pandemic
occupancy in July. Friday through Sunday occupancy, on the other hand, has
decreased.
Brisbane has seen the most occupancy growth in recent months, followed
by Perth then Sydney, each of which has occupancy rates consistently eclipsing
2019 levels. Occupancy rates in Melbourne, which has absorbed an influx of
supply, are still running below pre-pandemic levels.
That said, more growth associated with corporate, meetings
and events is on the horizon, according to Burke.
“Midweek shows plenty of upside opportunity as international
meetings, large-scale events, corporate and day-agnostic international leisure
are still working their way back,” he said, noting that some corporate sectors
may still have pent up demand. “There is anecdotal evidence that finance and
professional service corporate travelers have been slower to recover than other
industries. With all that considered, our forecast is watchfully optimistic on
the assumption of further improvement in international and corporate demand.”