It seems the renewed faith of investors and developers in Perth’s hotel sector has been vindicated this year, with new statistics showing Perth led the nation in achieving the highest growth in revenue per available room (RevPAR) in the year to March 2007.
Colliers International Hotels’ third quarter 2007 report reveals room rates strengthened in Perth by a significant 13.3 per cent in the year to March 2007, which, when combined with solid occupancy gains, resulted in a significant 19.2 per cent jump in RevPAR to $97.37.
The next highest RevPAR growth in the nation belonged to Adelaide (up 13.4 per cent to $95.95), followed by Brisbane and Canberra with a 13.3 per cent improvement.
When examining the March quarter alone, Perth’s hotel market recorded an incredible 22.9 per cent jump in RevPAR, off the back of a 4.7 percentage point improvement in occupancy and a 16 per cent increase in room rates over the quarter.
The report also found Perth achieved the third highest occupancy in Australia at 80.4 per cent, up four percentage points for the year to March 2007, the first time Perth has exceeded occupancy of 80 per cent.
Despite the positive report card on revenue, the Perth market witnessed its second consecutive year of diminishing supply, down by 1.8 per cent in the year, which was on top of a 2 per cent decline in the year to March 2006.
Brisbane and Melbourne were the only cities to show a significant increase in supply, up 5 per cent and 4.6 per cent respectively for the year ending March 2007.
But the past five years has seen growth in demand in the Perth market and this trend has continued, with a 3.4 per cent increase in demand for the year to March 2007.
With solid improvements in occupancy on top of double digit gains in room rate and RevPAR, the report suggested the Perth market was now highly sought by hoteliers keen to have representation in the city.
The interest in Perth is decidedly obvious, with four proposed city hotels creating a buzz in the sector, following a 12 year development hiatus.
First out of the ground in 2009 will be the 180-room $70 million Frasers Suites hotel, as part of a $300 million mixed use development on the former bus depot site in East Perth.
This will likely be followed by the opening of the Elan Riverside Pier Hotel at Barrack Square, the redevelopment of the Treasury Building as a five-star hotel and the development of a hotel within the state government’s Mounts Bay foreshore project area.