Coldplay and the golf

Melbourne is well known for being busy on the weekends but this week saw it fill Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday for the first time in a very, very long time.

It started with the Coldplay concert on Tuesday night and the rest was due to the Australian Masters Golf which starts today. In years past we have put it down to the Tiger Woods effect, so with him not making the trip down under this year, we didn't have any expectations for this event.

We were keeping an eye on the Tuesday night due to the concert and late last week noticed that availability was quickly disappearing. We grabbed the final few rooms that we thought were decent value but it was nowhere near enough as we were flooded with calls on Friday and throughout this week.

Many months ago we put together a large allotment for Coldplay's concert in Brisbane on Wednesday night so our fingers are crossed that the same happens.

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!

The return of Tiger Woods

The great news yesterday was the official announcement that Tiger Woods will return to Melbourne later this year to defend his Australian Masters title.

His visit to Melbourne last year coincided with corporate travel bouncing back after the economic slowdown. Thanks to Tiger (and a Britney Spears concert), it was a massive week for Melbourne hotels and great for business around here as well.

While looking for one of the news reports about the announcement, I came across the news article below that 2011 will be even better! Click on the title to read the full story. Great news for golf fans, great news for us and Melbourne hotels.

Woods also set for 2011

MARTIN BLAKE
June 10, 2010

TIGER Woods' decision to defend his Australian Masters title has guaranteed another bumper edition of the tournament that was in danger of dying two years ago. But if 2009 was big and 2010 is just as big, then 2011 should be a monster.

That's because the Presidents Cup, the biennial teams event between the United States and an International team, is to be played at Royal Melbourne in the same month, November 14-20. By piggy-backing on to that tournament, the Masters should have not only Woods playing, but a host of other big-name golfers looking for some tournament play on the sandbelt.

The Masters is likely to be held at Kingston Heath from November 10-13, the week before the Presidents Cup. Possibly the Australian Open will jump on, too, by scheduling to play in Sydney the following week, for three weeks of top-level play. It is the kind of window of access that Australian tournament golf has craved since the halcyon days of Greg Norman's fame.

November - Peak Corporate Travel Season

November tends to be one of the busiest corporate travel months of the year as everyone tries to get business done before everything shuts down over the Christmas holidays.

Obviously this year has been a rough one for corporate travel so exactly how busy November would be was anyone's guess. Corporate demand keeps cities busy at this time of year, but its the events and other things happening that fills the hotels and brings our service in to demand.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, the month got off to a great start thanks to Tiger Woods playing in the Australian Masters in Melbourne. I didn't give Britney Spears much credit for just how busy it was but it seems I may have been mistaken as the weak after when she was in Sydney, along with Pearl Jam, demand was through the roof. The same week there was a large rail conference in Adelaide that made it crazy busy.

The only frustration with both events was that I knew they were coming, I just didn't imagine the demand for rooms would be to the level it was. The phones rang off the hook and while I had some rooms ready to go, it was nowhere near enough and it was disappointing have to tell so many people that a city was full.

This week, Britney Spears and Pearl Jam came to Brisbane, in the same week that Hulk Hogan was in town and the first cricket test match of the summer is at the Gabba on Thursday. Thankfully I was prepared, grabbed plenty of rooms but they still didn't last too long. Tomorrow (Wednesday the 25th) is the absolute worst of it and so many people have needed that one night. I ran completely out of rooms this afternoon so my fingers are crossed that there are some cancellations overnight and I can find availability in the morning.

Tiger lands in Melbourne

Tiger Woods may have only arrived in Australia yesterday and had his first practice round today but his legend definitely preceded him.

We started getting calls last week and had an extremely busy afternoon on Friday doing nothing but bookings for Melbourne hotels. Sure, its not just Tiger in town that has the city full, Britney Spears also has concerts this week ... but we all know who the real draw-card is.

The demand for Melbourne continued on Monday but unfortunately by mid-afternoon the city was essentially full. I only found a few more rooms this morning but they didn't last long and unfortunately nothing really changed throughout the day. There's nothing I hate more than saying we can no longer find rooms but that's what happened today.

Being a golf fan, I'm a huge fan of Tiger Woods. Anyone still needing accommodation in Melbourne this week may not feel the same right now.