Australasian Oil & Gas Exhibition 2014

The Australasian Oil & Gas Exhibition in Perth is one of the biggest weeks of the year for hotel accommodation and its only just around the corner now, starting on February 19 until the 21st.

Despite getting in relatively early, there were only so many rooms we could get our hands on at a "reasonable" rate. If you ring around hotels now or look online you'll struggle to find anything under $400/night. Within a week or two, that availability will disappear and the prices will all be above $500. That may come as a surprise for anyone that doesn't know the Perth hotel market, but that's what happens when the city gets busy.

This is where we can help out tho, we currently have the following available:

• 4 star apartments for under $300/night (based on a 3 night minimum stay)
• 3.5 and 4 star hotel rooms from under $350/night (based on a 2 night minimum stay)

Obviously, if you can avoid travelling to Perth this week I'd highly recommend it. If you can't, call or e-mail us and we'll let you know what we still have available. 

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.

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!

Bledisloe Cup - Sydney

There's not a great deal of events happening in August, which is a little strange because its usually a very busy month around the country. So with not much to prepare for this month, earlier in the week I started looking at September.

There are conferences, there are sporting events and the first big one will be the Bledisloe Cup in Sydney. There are a number of factors that will make this a big night for the city. Firstly, its on a Saturday night and they're always busy in Sydney. Secondly, its the Bledisloe Cup ... and despite the Kiwis already having wrapped it up, plenty of people will have already bought tickets and any contest between the two countries will always be a spectacle. Third and finally tho is the cross-over event that not everyone knows about ... the Reed Gift Fair also starts in Sydney on the night of the 11th.

A gift fair may not sound like much of an event but if you saw the demand and the damage that the Reed Gift Fair did to the Melbourne market two weeks ago you'll know this one is different. Combine that with the other two factors I mentioned above and September 11 is a night to beware of for Sydney hotels.

So here's the summary of how things look. With a month to go a number of hotels are already fully booked and a number of other hotels are already charging through the roof! There are however a few hotels that are still well-priced so last week I had Tara grab a few allotments to make sure we don't miss out.

If you need accommodation for the Bledisloe Cup in Sydney, I know its still a month away but now is the time to get in. As mentioned, we have a few of the best deals up our sleeve (one bedroom apartments for around $200/night, 4.5 star hotels for under $250/night) so call or e-mail us and we'll let you know what we can do.

And of course ... go Wallabies!

Dalai Lama fills Sydney

Last month it was Britney Spears and Pearl Jam that filled Sydney hotels, but they weren't as big a drawcard as the Dalai Lama.

I noticed a week or two back that Sydney was filling quickly this week and did some research to find out why. It was then that I found out the Dalai Lama was going to be in Sydney from the 1st to the 4th. Combine this with the end of corporate travel season and I knew it would be a busy week for the hotels.

With this in mind, I loaded up on rooms for this week and thought I had judged the demand fairly well but when I completely ran out of rooms on Monday afternoon I knew it was trouble. Sydney was close to filling on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday nights. From Tuesday onwards, each morning I managed to find only a handful of "affordable" rooms. If you hadn't got in early and needed last minute accommodation, you had to pay over $500 for a hotel.

Its getting busy again on Wednesday and Thursday next week in Sydney but I'm sure it won't be anywhere near as crazy for the hotels as it was this week when the Dalai Lama came to town.

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.

Dynamic Pricing Across the Accommodation Industry

I came across an interesting article about the Australian accommodation market and what will happen after the GFC (Global Financial Crisis).

Its a good read for those in the hotel industry and there are a few key points brought up by Quest Chairman Paul Constantinou that I couldn't agree with more:

• "Four to five years before the GFC hit, the industry had been under-supplied. The strong demand for accommodation caused bigger players to get greedy and introduce dynamic pricing to the market.
• "It's about looking after your customer, driving loyalty, and not treating them like they're a commodity. There's no use giving a customer a loyalty card if you have no loyalty."
• The clear lesson for accommodation providers is to focus on the long-term and build genuine relationships with its corporate customers, through thick and thin.

Click on the title below to read the full story.

Dynamic Pricing Across the Accommodation Industry | ehotelier.com News Archives

For the last 12 months the GFC has forced travel operators to offer more competitive pricing, but in the wake of a recovering economy, one leading industry player says consumers should brace themselves for price hikes once more.

Dynamic (or variable) pricing was in full swing just 18 months ago, with large accommodation providers charging the corporate world up to three times more for its rooms during peak periods.

The GFC reversed this dynamic, causing average room rates and occupancy rates to decline dramatically.

Will the accommodation industry continue to suffer, or will the much maligned dynamic pricing model re-surface some time soon with the improvement of business confidence?

Andre Rieu is back!

After wreaking havoc on the accommodation market when he was here at the end of 2008, I had been counting down to his concert tour this year. No, not because I wanted to go, but I really hoped he would have the same effect on the demand for city hotels.

Adam and I discussed it last year and because he wasn't bringing the same level of show that he put on last year and was performing at Boondall rather than Suncorp Stadium, our expectations were lowered. Thankfully tho, I was pleasantly surprised at what ended up happening.

As well as Rieu in town there was also a large science conference at the convention centre and this was what first drew my attention. I then remembered the concerts were on at the same time so I knew it had to be a busy few nights for the Brisbane hotels and prepared accordingly. I was disappointed at how late the actual demand came but when it happened it delivered!

I was at the Sofitel Brisbane Central for a breakfast meeting on Wednesday and as I was leaving I actually saw Andre Rieu in the lobby. (For me, the highlight of the morning was definitely the breakfast buffet tho!) When I got back to the office there were a LOT of messages on the voicemail and the enquiries didn't stop for the next day and a half. The well of available rooms eventually ran out yesterday at 4pm and unfortunately I was unable to assist the last couple of enquiries.

I haven't seen the Brisbane accommodation market that full for a long, long time. So once again, thank you Andre!

Chateau Royale Maroochydore

I spent last weekend with friends up the coast at Maroochydore. Not surprisingly the accommodation was given to me to arrange at late notice. Availability was limited and we needed a three bedroom apartment to cater for our group (5 of us).

For our corporate clients we tend to use Sebel Maroochydore and the Horton Apartments but neither had suitable bedding so I came across Chateau Royale. It was available and without pushing for an industry discount (because we needed 2 nights on a weekend) we paid just $40/person/night which is a steal for a three bedroom ocean view apartment.

Its not as modern a place as I'd normally book but the price and the location were right. Chateau Royale is in Cotton Tree just 20 metres from the beach. Our apartment didn't have aircon (which is normally a must for me) and having only seen the property online I talked it down to my friends before we arrived to make sure expectations were managed. Thankfully tho I was pleasantly surprised as the apartment was in good condition, had a large kitchen & lounge room, a wrap around balcony and great views.

I had hoped to spend a bit of time on the beach because I'm so white but due to the weather that didn't happen. It was blowing a gale when we arrived on Saturday afternoon and Sunday was raining and overcast. However, Monday when we left was perfect ... surprise, surprise. So instead, we spent the weekend playing cards (not poker believe it or not), eating and drinking.

The property is undergoing renovations at the moment but it didn't affect us as the work was being done midweek.

Good signs ahead

A number of my posts over the last few months have been about the gloomy state of the Australian hotel market due to the economic slowdown. Thankfully, things start to be looking up again. We're not seeing the full flow-on effect as yet and we have a looooong way to go to get back to normality but some positive signs are there.

Events are starting to fill cities again and a number of cities are back to being busy on a regular basis. Canberra has been pretty steady thanks to a number of sittings of parliament. Adelaide, Brisbane and Perth have been slowly picking up again while Darwin is always very busy at this time of year.

One of the biggest frustrations over the last few months has been that we are still getting some really great enquiries (groups, long-stays, etc) but just haven't ended up booking any of them. Whether its just companies "kicking tyres" or they aren't getting the rates approved by their accounts, its disappointing to get the enquiry and not be able to close the deal. The group bookings and the long-stays are the cream for our business as they take the same time to do as a normal reservation but are obviously worth a lot more.

So it was nice last week to finally close a really good booking and one that I didn't expect to. I had one of the travel agent's we look after call me needing help with accommodation in Geelong. Sure, not a capital city and not somewhere we normally look after but for the right enquiry I'll definitely make an exception. Surprisingly, Geelong is extremely busy over the next month or so with a number of events and the agent needed to find 6 rooms for roughly 6 weeks each. Thankfully one of my friends is the Director of Sales & Marketing at the Four Points by Sheraton Geelong and he was able to work his magic, squeeze them in and give me an excellent rate.

I was actually down in Geelong a month or two ago for my birthday weekend and thanks to my friend we stayed at the hotel. Its in a great location overlooking the bay and I had a nice room overlooking the water (pictured below) ... and paid very little including breakfast and drinks. Two months later, a very good booking for them (and us) ... it obviously pays to have me stay at your hotel! :-)

Australian travel market

I found a couple of articles about the state of the Australian travel market this morning. Hopefully the first one is on the money and relief is indeed on the way for Australian hotels.

Click on the titles below to read the full stories.

It's been hard for hotels, but relief is on the way

Carolyn Cummins
July 18, 2009

IT'S been a tough 18 months for the hotel sector with sharp declines in tourism, but the latest figures for the March quarter show businesses have weathered the decline.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics shows the accommodation sector continued to perform steadily, even though hotel occupancy levels eased.

Michael Thomson, the national director for hotels and leisure at Colliers International, said the best performing markets were Perth and Canberra, which showed strong room rate and growth in revenue per available rooms. He said most Australian cities experienced moderate room rate growth in the 12 months to March this year. While the Sydney hotel market was comparatively weak with lower room rates and declining occupancy, the Melbourne market remained resilient with slight improvements in average room rates in a period of weakening demand.

'In the first quarter of 2009, the deterioration in the global economy translated into cutbacks and fewer bookings in the corporate and leisure markets, and this was felt across most accommodation markets,' Mr Thomson said.


Business travellers benefit from bargains

Airfare wars and room-rate promotions are usually aimed at recreational travellers, but airlines and hotels are using similar tactics to entice their traditional cash cow - the business traveller.

Corporate travellers, who pay more to sit in the front cabins of planes or book close to the date of travel, are flying coach more often, or not travelling at all during the recession.

Employers are booking fewer banquet halls and blocks of rooms, leaving many hotels pining for the sizeable and reliable revenue that business meetings used to generate.

State of Origin accommodation

With just two weeks to go until State of Origin 3 in Brisbane (July 15), I thought I'd give you a quick update on accommodation for that night.

A number of the hotels require pre-payment or have a 7 day cancellation policy in place.

Starting at the top, almost all of the 5 star hotels have availability still, prices start from around $400 for the night of the 15th.

The 4 and 4.5 star hotels, some have availability some are sold out already. The best value accommodation now starts at $350 but is within walking distance of Suncorp Stadium.

There are a number of apartments still available. Of course, the longer you stay the cheaper the per night rate becomes. Based on a two night stay, the night of the State of Origin would be just under $350 and the other night would be under $200.

Even 3.5 star hotels in the CBD are almost $300 and the only one we'd use has a two night stay in place.

If you need State of Origin accommodation in Brisbane, e-mail or call us and we'll let you know what the best available option is.

Canberra "Budget" accommodation

No, I'm not talking about cheap accommodation, in fact far from it. Its one of the biggest nights of the year for Canberra and not surprisingly the rates and availability reflect that.

With just a week to go until Budget night in Canberra (May 12), I thought it was worth updating you on the accommodation situation for that night. Last minutes websites have hotel rooms starting from around $300, but we still have:

• 3.5 star hotel rooms for under $200/night
• 4 star hotel rooms from just over $250/night
• 4.5 star hotel rooms for under $300/night

Don't waste your time ringing around or checking websites, simply call us on 1300 305 997 and we'll make sure you get the best available options to choose from. Get in quick before they sell out ... and priority will be given to stays of more than one night.

Mantra Sierra Grand

I was down on the Gold Coast again last weekend for a friend's birthday. The itinerary for the weekend included Dracula's on Friday night and then the casino on Saturday night and of course yours truly was in charge of booking the accommodation.

We wanted to be within walking distance of both so I checked availability at Meriton (where I stayed last time) but came across a fantastic deal at Mantra Sierra Grand. Part of the Stella Group, they had a special "stay 3 pay 2" deal and this even applied to industry rate!! We stayed in a two bedroom and it worked out to be sensational value.

Sierra Grand is a 4.5 star apartment style resort in Broadbeach and it was the perfect location, just a short walk to Dracula's, Conrad Jupiters and Pacific Fair Shopping Centre. The resort even has a theatre room you can book (for free) to watch DVD's or sporting matches!

The weather wasn't great so the only time I saw the beach was from the balcony of our apartment, so my "tan" will continue to stay a whitey shade of grey.