Adelaide hotels hit the scoreboard as footy fans arrive

Sports fans have switched focus from Melbourne’s grand prix to the AFL’s Gather Round coming up in Adelaide, and hoteliers are the winners.

Adelaide’s suburban Norwood Oval plays host to Gather Round matches.

Hotel occupancies across Adelaide are spiking for the upcoming AFL Gather Round, which is billed as an action packed weekend of nine football games.

One month out from the four-day event in April, hotel occupancies are tracking six percentage points higher than the 2024 event, according to Co-Star’s latest forward data.

When Collingwood faces the Sydney Swans on April 11 hotel occupancy is as high as 90.6 per cent.

The next-highest level is for April 12 at 86.2 per cent.

“All 18 Australian Football League teams will be in Adelaide during the week with this the third edition of the AFL Gather Round,” STR regional director Matthew Burke said.

“Strategically selected to fit within the Victorian school holiday period, this event continues to attract stellar demand with the hotel booking pace now ahead of the same time last year with four weeks to opening bounce.”

For comparison, in 2024, hotel booking levels were peaking at 84 per cent for the second night of the event on April 5, 2024, and 83.1 per cent on the third night, April 6, 2024.

When looking at performance levels last year, the event drove record-high average daily rates and revenue per available room on April 6, 2024, at $405.03 and $359.85, respectively.

The second-highest daily rate was $389.65 and revenue per available room was $343.82 which was recorded on April 5.

Investors are also chasing hotels in the city.

Property funds manager Elanor has been carving up its hospitality portfolio, which includes The Mayfair Hotel Adelaide. The property is expected to sell for about $90m.

Thai hotel group Amora Hotels and Resorts is also investing $40m into a major upgrade of Adelaide’s largest hotel, Hilton Adelaide, after striking an agreement to acquire and rebrand the 377-room property.

Hilton will vacate the landmark tower when its management agreement expires in June next year, bringing to an end more than 40 years at the Victoria Square site.