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Melbourne still among Australia’s cheapest city hotel rates

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Melbourne still among Australia’s cheapest city hotel rates
Perth led Australia in hotel occupancy for November averaging 87.2 per cent.

Western Australia’s capital was ahead of Sydney’s occupancy, which stood at 86.9 per cent, Hobart on 82.3 per cent and Brisbane on 81.6 per cent, according to figures just released by Accommodation Australia.

Despite recording a 3.1 per cent better occupancy last month compared with November 2023, Melbourne’s occupancy still languished at 78.9 per cent, despite the city hosting its annual Spring Racing Carnival, including the Melbourne Cup, in November.

Hotel performance figures also reveal the cities where visitors paid the most for accommodation.

The average daily rates saw Sydney out front at $303, followed by the Gold Coast at $259, Brisbane on $251, Perth on $245 and Melbourne on $234.

Hoteliers also measure the revenue per available room (RevPAR), representing their yield. Last month Sydney was well clear of the pack at $263, with Perth closest at $214, Brisbane at $205 and Melbourne at $184.

Generally a measure reflecting both corporate events and conferencing as well as leisure stays, it is often the mid-week performance figures that reveal interesting trends.

Brisbane recorded its best revenue figure for 2024 last month and mid-week it was driven by corporate travel, consistent multi-day conferences and trade shows, while weekends benefited from “an impressive spread of lifestyle offerings”.

Accommodation Australia’s Victoria member services executive, Ben Higgins, said Melbourne’s hotel performance was “simply a matter of demand having not caught up with supply…it’s the sheer volume of hotel rooms with 7,000 new hotel rooms announced and about 5,000 delivered”.

Higgins reflected that Melbourne’s occupancy rates this year were still behind the figures the city recorded back in 2019.

Accommodation Australia represents a range of accommodation providers from small regional motels through to several of the major global brands in Australia, totalling more than 1,700 properties and 120,000 rooms.