Adelaide shrugs off pandemic with more city revellers than pre-Covid
Adelaide is out performing the nation in its Covid-era recovery in one valuable area.
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Adelaide’s tourism and hospitality sector has rebounded out of the pandemic better than any other Australian capital city with new data showing more people in the CBD at night than even before the pandemic.
Weekends are back to pre-Covid levels as the warmer weather, events, the arts and entertainment entice people into the city.
The Tourism and Transport Forum – the peak industry group for the tourism, transport and aviation sectors – commissioned the data from consultants DSpark which used mobile cellular tower and GPS data, public transport data, road network data and more to analyse movements of around eight million people.
It found Adelaide’s CBD has outperformed Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth led by an influx of visitors after dark and on weekends, in a positive sign for the city’s arts and entertainment industries.
Overall, the total number of people visiting or working in Adelaide’s CBD throughout the week and on weekends is 86 per cent of pre-Covid levels, higher than Perth (85), Brisbane (74), Melbourne (71) and Sydney (67).
Weekend visitors have returned to 100 per cent of pre-Covid levels on average, a fraction behind Sydney’s 101 per cent.
On weeknights after 10pm, there are more visitors to Adelaide’s CBD than before the pandemic, peaking at 112 per cent of pre-Covid levels after midnight, behind only Sydney on 116 per cent.
In the year-to-date, there are about 25,000 people in Adelaide’s CBD per hour on the weekend on average, and about 35,000 people per hour on average each weekday.
TTF chief executive Margy Osmond said the arts, cultural and events sectors are helping lure people back.
“Live entertainment and major events are the dominant force driving people back into the city at night and on weekends, when we’re seeing the biggest recovery since the pandemic,” she said.
“More people are keen to soak up Adelaide’s culture, events and flavours, as the weather warms up and lockdowns fade into memory. This data shows how crucial our arts and events industries have been in recent months and they’ll continue to help our cities bounce back.
“Adelaide’s results reflect the comprehensive and embedded festival and events program and that the CBD is destination central — and if you are looking for a good investment to bump up visitation you don’t have to look further than the arts and cultural sectors.
“While Adelaide’s CBD is faring better than other cities, we still need to find ways to boost weekday crowds to help those shops, cafes and other businesses still feeling the effects of the pandemic.”
The research found while only about two thirds of Adelaide’s CBD workers have returned to the city, that is a better result than in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.
“Many people are still working from home, especially in Sydney and Melbourne,” Ms Osmond said. “It’s causing pain for retailers and cafes in the CBD who once relied on weekday foot traffic.
“Across Australia, we need to find ways to encourage more people back into their nearest city during the week.”
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