Capital city hotel markets roared back to life in 2022 helped by the reopening of borders, a strong domestic travel market and a busier events calendar, new figures by analysts STR show.
“The accommodation industry had a stellar year in 2022 in many respects, particularly in regional leisure destinations where we’ve seen the majority outperform 2019 levels, and we expect that largely to continue throughout 2023,” said Leanne Harwood, president of the Accommodation Association and managing director of IHG Hotels“The big cities are a different story, and occupancy levels are still well behind 2019, predominantly due to lower business and MICE travel.
The latest STR figures show that average daily rates surged past 2019 figures across all the capital cities in 2022, led by Sydney, where guests forked out $250 on average a night for a hotel in the city, followed by Melbourne and Brisbane . Mr Hunt tipped occupancy rates across Marriott hotels in Australia to hit 80 per cent by February and March this year and for revPAR to be up 20 per cent on 2022 figures.