Hotel operators and investors are bracing for an influx of new rooms, which they say will need to be supported by a vigorous government campaign to sell Australia to the world.
While there has been limited new hotel developments in recent years in nearly all capital cities, Sydney is set to be inundated in coming years, namely at Darling Harbour and Barangaroo.
James Packer’s Crown group is planning a ‘‘six star’’ hotel, while Lend Lease is developing the new 35-storey hotel at Darling Harbour as part of the International Convention Centre project (artist impression pictured).
At the recent HotelsWorld conference, discussions centred on whether the country and Sydney specifically, were heading into a period of hotel over-supply, as the pipeline hasn't been as full as this for 20 years, according to many of the attendees.
According to a report commissioned specifically by the Tourism Accommodation Australia, it shows that for the hotel property sector, the $1 million increase in marketing and promotional effort is estimated to increase spending on accommodation by $4.5 million and create up to 55 additional jobs in the accommodation sector.
The report, “Estimates of the Return on Marketing Investment for Australian Inbound Tourism” – was produced by industry researchers, Webber Quantitative Consulting.
TAA’s managing director, Rodger Powell, said that the report highlighted the benefits that governments can play in driving demand.
There has been considerable debate over the impact of tourism marketing and its ability to drive greater visitor numbers and foreign income, and these figures make it clear that the investment in tourism marketing has a significant direct impact on the hotel sector and an even larger benefit for the wider economy through the multiplier effect,” Mr Powell said.
The report comes at a time when Deloitte Access Economics estimates that international tourists arrivals to Australia will increase by 5.1 per cent over the next three years.
According to Deloitte Access Economics’ Lachlan Smirl, not even the stronger Australian dollar dampened growth in international leisure visitors in the year to May.
‘‘We know economic growth is the big driver of travel and as economic growth returned to the United Kingdom and United States, and continued across the critical markets of Asia – visitor arrivals surged,’’ he said.
‘‘Improving economic conditions on the east coast were evident in corporate travel to Sydney, which grew 21 per cent.
‘‘On the international front, it was Victoria, South Australia and New South Wales that led the way, as low cost carrier capacity provided a fillip to Asia’s buoyant underlying growth.”
