Gold Coast Hotels Record Triple Digit Growth During Games

Visitors to Queensland for the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games faced increased room rates as hotel operators cashed in on the visitor boom.

The Gold Coast’s hotel performance was largely driven by high rate premiums during the event, which ran from April 4 to April 15.

According to a report from research group STR, the average daily rate came in at $347.38 – a 76 per cent increase over the same 12-day period in 2017.

The market’s growth in revenue per available room exceeded 100 per cent most nights during the event, with the peak level occurring the night of the opening ceremony on April 4 – jumping 205.4 per cent to $294.26.

The spike in average daily rate and revenue per available room occurred despite the fact that Gold Coast hotels did not register at-capacity occupancy levels.

The market experienced its highest occupancy level (92.8 per cent) on the night of the closing ceremony, and the average level during the event (86.6 per cent) fell short of the average in Glasgow (95.7 per cent). However, with different market sizes, the Gold Coast sold 99,466 more room nights.

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“While it’s encouraging to see that Queensland hotels capitalised on the Commonwealth Games, the lasting legacy could have an even greater impact on the market’s future,” said Matthew Burke, STR’s Pacific manager.

“As Southeast Queensland continues exploring the prospect of bidding to host the 2032 Olympics, the results of this year’s Commonwealth Games will likely play a big role in the ultimate decision.”

Queensland’s Minister for the Commonwealth Games Kate Jones said ticket sales exceeded pre-Games expectations with 1.21 million tickets sold in total.

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“While a high number of those ticketholders were from southeast Queensland, people came from every state and territory in Australia and across the Commonwealth to cheer on the athletes and attend Games-related activities.”

Jones said that data showed around 1.2 million people spent $870 million in Queensland during, before and after the event.

Compared with other recent host markets of the Commonwealth Games, Gold Coast hotels recorded the highest absolute revenue per available room level during the event when measured in U.S. dollar constant currency according to STR.