Ashes second test - Adelaide

The second test in The Ashes series got underway yesterday in Adelaide and it was definitely the hardest one yet to help people find accommodation for. Most of the Adelaide hotels were sold out well in advance and those that weren't had three night minimum stays in place or were asking for full payment at time of booking (not ideal for corporates).

Like Brisbane, the two hardest nights for accommodation in Adelaide were the night before the match started (Wed) and the first night of (Thurs). It didn't help things that there was also a Muse concert on Wednesday night.

Thankfully we have a great relationship with a sales manager at one of the hotels in Adelaide that hooked us up with a block of rooms. We also managed to get a handful of rooms from a hotel that we used to do a lot of work with and that helped a great deal. There was still unfortunately a lot of requests we weren't able to help.

Ashes 2013

I didn't realise, but looking back to previous posts, have we not had the Ashes played in Australia since 2010, could that be right?

Looking back at my post from that time, things have have worked out much like it did three years ago. The first test started today and its been a very busy week here in Brisbane. The corporate demand hasn't been as strong this year for the hotels but this has definitely been one of the busiest weeks. Again, it wasn't so much the actual nights of the cricket (over the weekend) but the hardest night to get accommodation was Wednesday, the night before it begins, and Thursday the night of the opening day.

The second test is again in Adelaide and they love their prepaid rates and minimum night stay terms & conditions so its a tough challenge to help people book accommodation there. Thankfully we've got a few good contacts in hotels there so they've hooked us up with some good deals which have got us through.

It'll be interesting to see how Perth fares for the third test. It doesn't start until December 13 which is the end of corporate travel season so whether the city fills or not we'll just have to wait and see.

As for the cricket itself, Australia had a top order collapse but the tail is wagging and hopefully they can put up a respectable first innings score and we'll have a competitive match.

Stupid inquiry

While catching up on industry news, I also came across the following story that made me laugh. Its been a while since we've had a really stupid inquiry, although I did have to sort out a bit of a mix-up this morning when a traveller that we booked on behalf one of the Travel Management Companies turned up at the wrong hotel and wondered why they didn't have his booking.

He may be living in New Zealand, but poor Jake Morgan has had to put up with an unfair amount of mind numbing questions during his time in the travel industry. While this one isn’t exactly a stupid inquiry, it is perplexing to wonder who is the more intellectually challenged – the agents who booked the trip, or the customers for not realising. Bless.

From Jake Morgan, PREVU Corporation Ltd, Auckland, NZ:
From my time working on a cruise liner in the Caribbean, and later in Grand Cayman, I was blessed with almost too many stupid inquiries to mention. Here is one of my favourites:

Me: “How are you enjoying your vacation, folks?”
Them: “Lovely, but not what we expected.”
Me: “How so?”
Them: “When we went to the travel agent, we thought we had booked to go to the Grand Canyon.”

Umm, this doesn't look like the Grand Canyon??

Australian hotel market ... struggling

A couple of signs that show you how much the Australian hotel market is struggling right now.

1. Adelaide didn't fill for the Clipsal
Usually this is a can't miss event for Adelaide hotels. They can charge what they like for rooms, they can enforce a 4 night minimum stay and they usually fill with a few weeks to go. This year, with a week to go almost all of the hotels still had plenty of rooms so they dropped their rates and their minimum length stay requirements. But it was too late and the city didn't get close to filling.

2. Melbourne didn't fill for the Grand Prix
Again, this is usually a very good event for us and the Melbourne hotels. They charge full rack rates and have a 3 night minimum stay. Some of the hotels filled this year but in the lead up to the Grand Prix you could've got a one night stay on the Saturday night (usually the biggest/most popular night) for less than $200 at a 4.5 star property.

3. Canberra didn't fill for Budget
This was probably the most surprising. Canberra has a lot less 4, 4.5 and 5 star hotels than most of the other cities and usually fills at the drop of a hat when Parliament is in session or there is any sort of event happening. Budget is usually the busiest night of the year for Canberra hotels yet this year most of the 4 star hotels and above didn't fill.

Its clear that hotels aren't making adjustments to the current state of the economy. Companies are being a lot stricter with their corporate travel and aren't willing to pay the exorbitant prices that hotels have demanded in the past. Adelaide and Canberra not filling for their biggest events is evidence of that. The motels and the cheaper hotels that don't add massive event surcharges are still filling, its the top end of town that isn't and needs to make adjustments accordingly.

The next big event on the calendar is the State of Origin. I hope the hotels don't expect to get the rates they have been able to in previous years and start to price their hotel rooms more realistically. Looking at what's currently being asked, I'm afraid they will realise this way too late again ...