Melbourne CBD hotels recorded a collective occupancy rate of 94.7 per cent on the night of July 26, with 25,089 rooms filled – the highest number of hotel rooms ever simultaneously in use in the city.
The massive July night follows a number of other occupancy records set throughout the first half of 2025 in Melbourne, with the city notching up its busiest ever January, March, April, May and June. July is also expected to be record-breaking.
The July 26 international rugby match was attended by 90,000 people at the MCG – one of the world’s largest stadiums.
Melbourne has experienced a hotel boom over recent years, with more than 5,000 rooms added in the city since 2019, which has had an impact on occupancy rates. The city has continued to open yet more hotels this year, with debuts including 1 Hotel Melbourne in June and two IHG properties on Bourke St Mall set to open next month.
The British and Irish Lions tour of Australia – held only once every 12 years – also helped Adelaide set a new occupancy record when the tour played its first match in Adelaide in over 130 years on July 12.
Meanwhile Australia’s largest hotel operator, Accor, has also flagged high occupancies due to the tour, with its Sydney hotels achieving a 97 per cent occupancy on the night of the final Lions versus Wallabies match on August 2, played at the very stadium where the hotel group has naming rights – Accor Stadium at Sydney Olympic Park.
It is estimated that the Lions tour drew 40,000 overseas visitors to Australia.
