Adelaide hotels hit highest-ever rooms occupied

Spring has sprung the highest number of Adelaide hotel rooms filled in one night than ever before, cracking more than 9,000 hotel rooms occupied on a weeknight last month.

On Tuesday 27 September – coincidentally, also World Tourism Day – there were 9,001 CBD hotel rooms occupied of the 9,911 that are available. It tops the previous record of 8,967 rooms occupied – reached only the week prior – and saw nightly occupancy at its highest since the start of the pandemic (91 per cent).

The record-high room nights occupied coincided with major events and conferences drawing visitors to the state. The AFL Masters Carnival, World Indigenous Peoples Conference on Education (WIPCE) 2022, and another major conference at the Adelaide Convention Centre brought in a combined around 5,000 visitors to the CBD.

The average occupancy rate would have topped pre COVID levels but the opening of hotels during the pandemic like the Sofitel, Eos by SkyCity, Crowne Plaza and Hotel Indigo have boosted the number of rooms available in Adelaide.

Latest STR data from the South Australian Tourism Commission shows:

• Adelaide accommodation has reached a new record for room nights occupied – with 9,001 rooms nights occupied on Tuesday 27 September 2022, of the 9,911 available.
• It topped the previous record of 8,967 rooms occupied – reached only the week prior (week ending 24 September) – and saw nightly occupancy at its highest since the start of the pandemic (91 per cent).
• The week ending 1 October 2022 saw average occupancy of 84 per cent, the best weekly average since the start of the pandemic.
• Other highlights included Saturday 24 September and Wednesday 28 September which saw occupancy of 90 per cent, making them the second and third best nights respectively since pre pandemic.

Minister for Tourism, Zoe Bettison said it is phenomenal to see these results for CBD hotel occupancy.

“To reach Adelaide’s highest-ever room nights occupied as we recover from the impacts of the pandemic is a remarkable achievement,” she said.

“Just when we thought we reached a new record in one week last month, we topped it even higher the following week – filling more than 9,000 hotel rooms in one night.”

“This incredible start to spring also comes on the back of several luxury hotels opening during the pandemic meaning we have more hotel rooms available than ever before – and more people wanting to fill them!”

“It’s an excellent result for Adelaide’s economic recovery and no doubt comes as music to the ears of developers, with more hotels pegged to open in our CBD in the coming year.”

Sarah Derry, CEO, Accor Pacific, the largest hotel operator in Australia and operator of Sofitel Adelaide said South Australia is experiencing an uplift in hotel occupancy numbers, thanks to the strong appeal of the region and the return of conferences, meetings and events.

“Events are driving people back into cities and we hope that this momentum continues, as it creates career opportunities and brings investment into South Australia,” she said.

Adelaide Convention Centre, General Manager, Martin Radcliffe said it’s been fantastic to welcome a series of major conferences and events to Adelaide Convention Centre in recent weeks, with the Centre set to achieve record levels of business during the 2022-23 financial year.

“We’ve been working hard over the past two years, in conjunction with Business Events Adelaide, to ensure we have an incredibly healthy pipeline of business events coming through Adelaide Convention Centre to support industry sectors that have been doing it tough throughout the pandemic,” he said.

“Our focus has been on enticing business event clients to Adelaide, thus providing local businesses with every opportunity to recover as quickly as possible. Based on forward bookings, 2023-24 promises to be equally strong. It’s pleasing that this hard work is bearing fruit.”