LONDON – Sydney hotels have pulled in a lower performance in January, according to preliminary data from hotel research company STR.
Taking into account a 1.7% growth in hotel supply, hotels in Sydney reported a contraction across demand (-3.2%), occupancy (-4.9% to 75.7%), average daily rate (-2.1% to A$206.42) and revenue per available room (-6.8% to A$156.18).
The performance in January marked over 25 consecutive months of occupancy declines for the market primarily due to growth in hotel supply.
Factors such as the New South Wales bushfires and smoke haze have also weighed on hotel performance, STR analysts note, as well as hampered the generation of additional demand.
The lack of significant demand growth is being exacerbated by the outbreak of novel coronavirus (COVID-19), as international arrivals from China make up a large part of inbound tourism in Australia.