Melbourne hotels were on track to enjoy higher occupancy rates over the Grand Prix weekend than a year ago, pointing to an improvement nationally, figures from real estate data provider CoStar show.

Though final rates were not yet clear, booking data at the end of last week averaging 87 per cent occupancy between Friday and Sunday was tracking higher than the same time last year, making it likely the final figures would top 2024’s 88 per cent, the owner of hotel researcher STR said.