Adelaide hits a new record with hotel occupancy best in the nation
Move over Melbourne and NZ – these stats reveal Adelaide is top of the list for exclusive travel destinations in our part of the world.
Lifestyle
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Adelaide is top of the hotel occupancy ranking across Australia and New Zealand while Melbourne — bizarrely ranking higher in “liveability” by a foreign magazine — is languishing in 11th place.
While London-based The Economist’s office-bound researchers gave Melbourne reason to gloat with its liveability index ranking it 10th and Adelaide 30th of 170 cities, actual tourists are voting with their feet by propelling Adelaide’s CBD hotels to an all-time May record occupancy rate, and the highest in the nation for the month.
It is a triumphant comeback for the city’s hotels hard hit by the pandemic as business as well as tourist travel collapsed for two long years.
Average occupancy for Adelaide accommodation in May 2022 was 79 per cent, outperforming the nation including Sydney which ended the month a distant 7th out of 14 major cities in Australia and New Zealand.
It comes as significant new hotels such as the Crowne Plaza, Sofitel and Hotel Indigo have opened during the pandemic, adding room numbers.
Young love is enjoying Adelaide — Alexander Pink, 28, and Abbey O’Keefe, 26, from Geelong headed to SA to celebrate their engagement with a five-day trip based out of Crowne Plaza taking in the city, wineries, chocolate makers, restaurants and more.
“We’ve been hearing about how good it is here for many years so when this special occasion came up it was our first choice,” Alexander said.
“We plan to tour through the Adelaide Hills and a lot more, it is so beautiful and as we do love our wine South Australia was an easy choice.”
Other interstate visitors such as Yasmin Milne and Hailey Wright from Melbourne this weekend were also enjoying an Adelaide getaway for Yasmin’s 18th birthday.
The data from global data analytics firm STR was welcomed by Tourism Minister Zoe Bettison.
“It is fantastic to see such strong results for our CBD and the recovery of our visitor economy,” Ms Bettison said.
“We know the city was hit hard during the pandemic – so to see it coming back busier than ever, to reach a new post-pandemic record and to have the highest occupancy of any other city in Australia shows the strength of tourism in our state. It means more visitors into businesses, more spending in cafes, restaurants, bars and retail, and importantly, a boost to local jobs.”
Australian Hotels Association SA general manager Ian Horne noted the city’s hotels had enjoyed “a great few months.”
“With events back in the city, and with leisure and business travel returning, we’re seeing more people coming into the CBD to stay and play,” he said.
“Importantly, this is pumping up confidence in the sector. To hit a record high is a real confidence boost for our state, and for the thousands of people employed in tourism and hospitality in South Australia.”
In 2021, Adelaide took out third spot on the liveability index behind Auckland (NZ) and Osaka (Japan).
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