According to the latest report from Accommodation Australia, Sydney topped occupancy at 78.6 per cent, nudging out Perth’s 78.4 per cent. Brisbane topped the capital cities for average daily rate (ADR) at $263.55, about three dollars ahead of the Gold Coast and five dollars ahead of Sydney, however Sydney had the best revenue per available room (RevPAR) at $202.91, against Brisbane’s $199.78 and Perth’s $188.27.
Events again played a part in the results, particularly in cities offering better late autumn weather than southern states, although the Gold Coast bucked this trend with a very low occupancy rate of 59.7 per cent.
Brisbane hotels benefitted from strong business events attendances. Events in the city included Ozwater, that brought more than 5,000 delegates to Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre, the Future Construction Summit with 1000+ delegates, EMPA Australia’s Emergency Media and Public Affairs Conference, Aus Manufacturing Week and a plastic surgery congress. As a result, occupancy rates peaked on May 26-27 at more than 85 per cent.
Major events continued to generate accommodation for the hotel sector and Brisbane might have done even better but for the fact that State of Origin Game 1 was moved from Brisbane to Sydney.
Evidence of the potential for major sporting events to impact hotel performance was Brisbane’s mid-month Magic Round for the NRL, which resulted in Brisbane occupancies of more than 85 per cent across three consecutive nights, together with ADR that surged to more than $467 and RevPAR up more than 95 per cent year-on-year.
Sydney’s business events during the month included the Capital 2026 Investment Conference at Hilton Sydney; Fintech Data Horizons Summit at Sofitel Sydney Darling Harbour and a franchising expo and a start your own business expo at ICC Sydney.
Perth’s results were boosted by the AusMedtech Conference 2026 at Crown Towers and a metallurgical processing conference, ALTA 2026, alongside the Australia Apostolic Conference at Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre.
Melbourne had improved performance across all three measures, but remains over-supplied with hotel rooms, which is good news for delegates seeking more affordable accommodation rates. The city hosted Digital Marketers Australia and Foodservice Australia from May 24–26 at Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre as well as BSides Melbourne, a cybersecurity conference.
Canberra staged its Annual Public Sector Comms Week while Adelaide held its SA Major Projects Conference at the Adelaide Convention Centre, focused on the state’s $27.3 billion infrastructure pipeline.
