South Australian Tourism Commission
South Australia’s summer festival season is in full swing and Adelaide is bustling as CBD accommodation and restaurants book at rates not seen since the pre-pandemic, and the region is once again setting new occupancy records.
The latest South Australian Tourism Commission statistics show that during the three long Adelaide Cup holidays, at least $ 50 million will be injected into the state’s economy, thanks to record occupancy rates driven by the Big State Coupon program and festivals such as the Fringe, Adelaide Festival and WOMADelaide.
Hotel and restaurant operators reported high forward bookings during this month, as South Australians and an increasing number of interstate diners took full advantage of ‘hotel dinners, shows and nights’.
The most recent figures given by the STR event:
- Adelaide accommodation occupancy rates hit their highest level since the start of the pandemic last week, with an occupancy rate of 82.1 percent on Friday 26 February, up from a recent post-pandemic high of 81.6 percent on New Year’s Eve 2020. Saturday nights are strong at 80 percent, even though Saturdays are excluded from the voucher program.
- Adelaide has been, and is expected to have, the highest occupancy by the end of March in any Australian capital.
- The occupancy rate in the South Australian region in January 2021 was 64 percent – a record high in January, and up from the recent record breaker in December 2020 (60 percent).
Prime Minister Steven Marshall said the latest data proved the tourism stimulus did what it was set to do and the city’s festivals continued to attract crowds.
“Tourism in South Australia is tracking very much in the right direction, very strongly, despite the huge challenges over the past 12 months,” said Prime Minister Marshall.
“High bookings for hotels and restaurants and a flourishing festival season mean more jobs across our state and show the world how sensational this place is for business.”
“This data and the projected $ 50 million injection into the visitor economy this long weekend, show that the work we’re doing to rerun the event and to stimulate the economy through the Big State Coupon scheme is making a real difference to our local tourism. industry.”
Sarah Goldfinch, general manager of the Crowne Plaza Adelaide – one of the hotels participating in the Large State Voucher scheme – said March in particular has seen more bookings.
“We enjoy very strong demand on the weekends thanks to local events like the Fringe and of course the support from the Great State Voucher campaign.
This March weekend has been fully booked. We are very fortunate to have tremendous support from local residents, as well as recently interstate guests as borders are starting to reopen, “he said.
CBD restaurants and bars also enjoyed a festival vibe in March, with operators reporting a surge in bookings from city diners.
Celebrated for award-winning Fino at Seppeltsfield, part of the Seppeltsfield Estate, Fino Vino is the newest of owner and executive chef David Swain and restaurant owner and manager Sharon Romeo – and is one of those well-placed for the festival season.
Ms Romeo said their Flinders Street restaurant had seen a surge in bookings ahead of the long weekend and some of Adelaide’s iconic events.
“Over the last few days, there have been lots of bookings for lunch and dinner at our Fino Vino restaurant and this weekend we are almost full. We saw a lot of people placing orders with a show, a lot from the Adelaide Festival and the WOMADelaide crowd, and it was great to see more locals bringing their international friends over to eat with them, ”he said.
“Fino at Seppeltsfield has just flown, we are actually seeing more and more visitors coming, not only to the restaurant but to the cellar door as well.”