Australia has been one of the highest performing hotel occupancy markets with improving midweek demand alongside continued strength across weekends. Amid recent COVID-19 outbreaks and lockdowns, however, key markets in the country are showing noticeably lower levels of occupancy on the books for the coming weeks.
When comparing the Forward STAR data updates of 28 June 2021 vs. 21 June 2021, Sydney’s average decline in occupancy on the books for the coming weeks and months was 13.8%. For the week of 27 June-3 July, Sydney’s hotel occupancy was not expected to exceed 20%, which would be a greater than 50% drop from previous weeks.
The Gold Coast was not yet in lockdown at time of processing the 28 June Forward STAR data, but because the Sydney basin is a large source market, the Gold Coast too saw more cancellations than new bookings for the coming two weeks. North Queensland has been affected three straight weeks with cancellations outweighing new bookings even though this is peak season as people escape north to find the warmer weather. Occupancy on the books for July is presently at 77% but isn’t likely to be as strong as expected a month ago because of cancellations.