Accommodation Association interim CEO, Richard Munro is calling on all Australians to their bit for the city-based hotels, urging them to book city staycations and take advantage of the lucrative CBD deals now coming on line.
Mr Munro’s comments follow the release of Tourism Research Australia statistics for September 2021.
The figures show while Australians took 1.1 billion trips to capital cities and spent $854 million in September 2021, CBD hotels saw a 74 percent fall in overnight trips and 76 percent drop in spend compared to pre-COVID levels.
On a regional basis, Australians took 2.4 million trips to regional areas and spent $1.8 billion but hotels still experienced a 60 percent drop in overnight trips and a 54 percent drop in spend for the period.
The biggest declines in spend were experienced in NSW and Victoria, $170 million and $132 million respectively, the lowest for both states since April 2020.
Spend in the ACT declined by $2 million, the lowest since the start of the pandemic.
Queensland (37 percent) and Western Australia (28 percent) contributed most to national overnight spend while NSW and Victoria shares were just 6 percent and 5 percent respectively, down from 29 percent and 19 percent in September 2019.
Mr Munro said the release of the National Visitor Survey Monthly Snapshot for September 2021 confirms the difficult trading conditions the sector has experienced under hard lockdowns and lockouts of International arrivals.
“Whilst our industry survived waves of the pandemic and stepped up to offer properties as government-run quarantine centres, the staggering drop in city hotel occupancies for September 2021 is simply eye watering,” he said.
“While Accommodation providers are starting to see a surge in corporate bookings and leisure travel for the new year, we’re calling on all Australians to book city staycations and take advantage of the lucrative CBD deals on offer.”
Mike Parker-Brown is a UK-trained and qualified journalist and an award-winning travel communicator with more than 30 years experience.
Since 2002, Mike has worked as a freelance writer and PR consultant providing his services to major organisations in Australia and internationally in the tourism, aviation, hospitality, recruitment and export marketing sectors.
