Busiest week of the year?

The end of year peak corporate travel season in Australia essentially runs from the end of September school holidays until early December. We have been flat out every day since Melbourne Cup (Nov 1) and this week was the ultimate for Australian hotels.

Here is what happened:

* Adelaide - filled last night
* Brisbane - filled Tuesday, Wednesday and almost Thursday
* Canberra - filled Tuesday, Wednesday
* Melbourne - filled Wednesday, Thursday
* Perth - filled Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday
* Sydney - filled Tuesday, Wednesday and almost Thursday

It got so busy, the cities so full and we ran out of our allotments so early (especially for Perth) that we had to give up on this week enquiries on Tuesday and focus on the week after.

There looks to be another 2 or 3 weeks left before things quieten down so if you have any travel to do in that time and need to book accommodation, make sure you organise your hotel before you book your flights!

The Tiger Woods effect

He may not be the # 1 golfer in the world anymore but that doesn't lessen the pulling power of Tigers Woods playing tournaments in Australia. This then flows through to the hotels in the city that he's playing in.

Last week Tiger was in Sydney playing in the Australian Open and virtually every CBD hotel was fully booked Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. This week he joined the USA's President's Cup team in Melbourne and all the hotels in and around the CBD have filled for at least Wednesday and Thursday nights.

I think I've explained this concept before, but when a sporting event happens in a city, strangely its not the nights of the event that actually fill, its only the nights that overlap with corporate travel. For instance, the golf got underway today in Melbourne but the worst nights for accommodation were actually last night and tonight with there still being availability over the weekend (while the tournament is still running).

I know he's become a controversial figure after his off-course antics that have come to light but as a golf fan and a business owner that benefits from him coming to Australia, I for one hope he comes back every year!