Occupancy rates in Alice Springs increased 8.5 percentage points (pp) compared with the March 2016 results. With no changes in supply at 1,157 rooms, this was driven by a 12% increase in demand, which in turn increased the RevPAR by 13% to $88.

For the year ending March 2017, average occupancy rates were up 4.5 pp to 72% compared to the same period last year, this has been driven by consistent increases in occupancy rates since February 2016 – i.e. when comparing the current month to the same month of the previous year. Demand continues to drive the high occupancy rates with the full year results up 6.2% to 303,000 room nights.

The average cost of a room (or ‘Daily Rate’) in Alice Springs for March 2017 was stable on the previous March remaining at $116. RevPAR did improve though, up by $10 to $88. The Daily Rate and RevPAR for the year ending March were $117 (up 1.1%) and $85 (up 8.1%) respectively.

Occupancy in March 2017 remained relatively high throughout the week, peaking on Tuesday with an average occupancy rate reaching 83%. In previous years the peak was focused around Wednesdays.

Room demand is following the traditional seasonal pattern albeit the differentiation between seasons is becoming less distinguishable as the number of room nights occupied increases on previous years. In line with room demand, monthly occupancy rates in Alice Springs have trended upwards over the past three years while average room rates have stayed mostly the same. Supply during the last three years has remained relatively unchanged.

The data in this report is sourced from STR and is collected from a sample of five hotels with 10 or more rooms in Alice Springs. Data is collected daily and collated to represent the industry. This sample represents 56% of the establishments in Alice Springs and 65% of the room supply.