Three Australian cities across the length and breadth of the nation proved the standout performers in the latest monthly hotel data issued this week by STR.
State of Origin rugby league matches in Brisbane and Perth led the two cities to post the best figures among mainland states. Game #1 in Brisbane helped the Queensland capital to a 0.4 per cent increase year-on-year in occupancy growth – a figure impacted by a four per cent jump in room supply against a 4.4 per cent jump in rooms sold. Not outstanding by most metrics, but still an improvement.
The annual showpiece event in the rugby league calendar moved in 2019 for the first time to Perth and the crowds followed, with a 7.1 per cent jump in rooms sold against a 5.8 per cent increase in new supply leading the city to post a modest 1.2 per cent occupancy growth.
By far though, the overwhelming Australian leader continues to be Hobart, which saw an astonishing 12.3 spike in occupancy, led primarily by the annual Dark Mofo Festival.
Cairns experienced a break-even month, with a five per cent boost in rooms sold offset by an equal number of new rooms opening, nullifying the advancements made but setting the city up for strong growth in the future.
Sydney, Melbourne, the Gold Coast and Canberra went backwards as new supply coming online continues to unsettle the major business, leisure and government markets, however the latter was impacted by a late return to the capital by the new parliament as it was sworn in for the next three years of national service.
In the Northern Territory, Darwin showed signs it was turning around its hotel sector after a run of months with highly negative occupancies due to the finalisation of a major pipeline project.
“Darwin continued to report negative RevPAR in June but the demand falls in May and now June for the dry season haven’t been as steep as earlier months reflecting some positive news through the traditional high tourism season,” said STR in good signs for the Top End.