Strong demand for hotel rooms in Perth

Western Australia continues to one of the most diverse hotel accommodation sectors in the country with WA’s metropolitan and mining regions outperforming traditional tourism regions according to the latest release of occupancy rates by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) and Australian Hotels Association (AHA) WA industry data.

AHA(WA) CEO Bradley Woods said the latest occupancy rates show the industry in the Perth metropolitan, North West and Coral Coast regions continues to be very competitive, attracting needed investment in the sector, while tourism regions in the South West continue to struggle.

“In the September 2012 quarter, Perth CBD and Geraldton recorded hotel occupancy rates of 85.9% and 83.4% respectively, while in tourism regions, such as Margaret River, it is a very different story.

“The South West recorded an average hotel occupancy rate of 45.3% according to the latest ABS report released today.

“While Perth appears to maintain high occupancy rates for the September quarter, our industry data shows a difference in occupancy rates when comparing Monday through Thursday, when it is difficult to find rooms available, with the weekends when business travelers return home.

“The average price of a hotel room in the Perth metropolitan area is $213.82 per night. There are competitive prices for tourists who book their holiday travel in advance and plan to stay in Perth on the weekends while visiting our extraordinary tourism regions during the week. 

“Initiatives by the State Government, including a new regional marketing campaign to generate tourism in regional Western Australia should result in a boost for those tourism regions who are currently doing it tough,” said AHA(WA) CEO Bradley Woods.

Source: Australian Hotel Association Western Australia, 11 January 2013