SA tourism set for a bumper year as first quarter hotel booking numbers look strong

The numbers have been crunched and there are positive signs for local hotels and hospitality venues with occupancy levels on the rise. Here’s how the first four months of 2024 are looking.

New events such as the Gather Round are helping drive up hotel occupancy rates. Picture: Roy VanDerVegt

Major events are fuelling an increase in hotel occupancy levels across Adelaide with early

bookings stronger in each of the first four months of 2024 than at the same time last year.

A crunching of numbers by the Adelaide Economic Development Agency reveals forward bookings are up five per cent on 2023 while city hotels are already half booked this January.

The Australian Hotels Association’s state chief executive Anna Moeller said there were “very positive preliminary signs” to indicate the local hospitality and tourism industries were bouncing back from the global Covid pandemic.

“I think we can be cautiously confident,” she said, pointing to the role major sporting events, such as LIV Golf and Gather Round, played in establishing SA as a “destination of choice”.

“I think that is probably the strongest factor in the sense they’ve brought interstate and international visitors here, some for the first time … they’ve liked what they’ve experienced and seen and are now coming back,” she said.

Anna Hurley from The Hurley Group, which has 10 hotels across metropolitan Adelaide as well as in regional South Australia, agreed.

“These events are incredible for every hotel, suburban and CBD accommodation … certainly the major events planned through the early part of 2024 are going to be a huge sugar hit for the hospitality industry,” she said.

The Hurley Group's Anna Hurley says suburban venues also benefit from major CBD events. Picture by Kelly Barnes

“There is a lot of optimism; we feel like we have a really good suite of events that are going to support hotels into the future.”

According to the AEDA statistics, occupancy rates for January sit at 51 per cent, compared to 46 per cent last January.

Forward bookings for February are at 34 per cent (which compares to 26 per cent in 2023); March is currently at 36 per cent (up on 32 per cent last year), and April is sitting at 31 per cent (compared to 28 per cent in 2023).

SA Tourism Minister Zoe Bettison said the state’s visitor economy hit an all-time high of $9.9 billion last September.

“We saw with the inaugural AFL Gather Round that it contributed more than $83 million to our state’s economy and it also boosted accommodation, generating more than 150,000 visitor nights in South Australia,” she said.

“The return of Harvest Rock was another highlight, with 9,984 rooms occupied across metropolitan Adelaide on the Saturday – making it among the best nights ever for our hotels.

“(And) it’s going to be another big year and it’s all about to kick off, with the Adelaide International and Santos Tour Down Under just days away, as well as returning major events such as AFL Gather Round, LIV Golf Adelaide, Tasting Australia … and so much more.”

The business and conference market is also viewed as key to maintaining strong occupancy levels.