QHA-Review_April_Digital

ACCOMMODATION
with Tom Fitzgerald
THE SWIFT EFFECT
CAPITALISING ON EVENT-DRIVEN DEMAND
QHA REVIEW | 34
Whilst our focus is on our jurisdiction of Queensland,
it’s hard not to cast our gaze to our southern states
to unpack what has been a history-making visit to
Australia by the stadium-filling extravaganza, Taylor
Swift. Without going too far down the rabbit hole of
hysteria and Swifties’ outfits and bracelets, the sheer
economic impact to Victoria and New South Wales
has been enormous.
From a high-level view, the seven sell-out shows in
Melbourne and Sydney pulled in a massive 600,000
fans, injecting over a staggering $140 million into the
national economy. Interestingly, the Australian Financial
Review stated this was more impactful than Australia’s
entire summer of cricket.
Taylor Swift’s Melbourne shows broke records, with
Saturday night breaking Melbourne’s average daily rate
(ADR) record by $29 and revenue per available room
(RevPAR) by $27, with all three shows now holding the
title for the highest ADR and RevPAR nights on record
for the city, impressively outdoing staples such as New
Year’s Eve and the Australian Open.
Sydney hotels enjoyed a record-breaking weekend,
with many reporting occupancy levels of between
90% and 100% and a $523.20 average ADR across
Taylor’s four concert nights, sending hotel rooms to
their busiest level since the 2000 Olympic Games in
Sydney.
Head of research for Ray White, Vanessa Rader, said
that while concerts last year from performers such
as Harry Styles, Ed Sheeran, Paul McCartney and
Coldplay led to soaring hotel room rates, Swift is
the standout with fans travelling internationally and
interstate.
She also said rooms across Sydney for the weekend
had skyrocketed as much as 300% compared to the
average Sydney room rate achieved last February
of $287 per night. CBD hotel rates in Melbourne
jumped from an average of $220 a night recorded last
February to as high as $900 a night and above across
the Taylor Swift tour period.
Some of the notable estimated figures around
attendees spending in region were as follows:
• 600,000 people across the Sydney and Melbourne
concerts over seven shows had an average spend of
$284 per person
• More than 100,000 fans and families travelled from
interstate for each concert, with each spending about
$185 a day on accommodation and dining out, with
overstays expected to last about two to three days
• More than 10,000 international visitors were
predicted to come from overseas and spend under
$500 a day during longer-lasting stays
Queensland unfortunately missed out on this occasion
on the Swift effect, although it is home to iconic events
of its own such as the NRL Magic Round, which
draws travellers in from across the country. 2023’s
Magic Round event delivered on occupancy and
average rates, with STR reporting the highest RevPAR
for Brisbane since the 2014 G20 Brisbane Summit –
$328.59 on Saturday 6 May 2023.
Potentially increasing Queensland’s chances to land
big-ticket shows, the number of concerts allowed in a
year could significantly increase under a Queensland
government proposal to exempt multi-show runs from
its annual cap.
In what was a temporary post-COVID measure for
2023 and 2024, the government doubled the number
of concerts allowed in a calendar year at Suncorp from
six to 12, which is now being pushed as a permanent
change while allowing a concert series to be counted
as a single show.
Townsville continues to show its capability in drawing
big-name artists and delivering major events, with
P!nk recently performing two shows in March after
selling out within 16 minutes of going on sale. P!nk’s
tour is expected to inject about $8 million into the local
economy, with hotels seeing frenzied demand and their
average rates increasing dramatically.