Accor Pacific CEO, Simon McGrath with ARL Commissioner, Peter V'Landys and NRL CEO, Andrew Abdo.

Strong but slightly mixed hotel performance results have been recorded from data gathered from the recent AFL and NRL Grand Finals in Perth and Brisbane, according to STR.

Border restrictions with Victoria failed to dampen the party during Perth’s recent hosting of the AFL decider between Melbourne and the Western Bulldogs, with hotels in the city recording the strongest RevPAR rate in five years.

While only fans from Tasmania, South Australia and the Northern Territory were able to enter Western Australia without enforced quarantine, the city average RevPAR of AUD$268 was the best Perth had seen since 2016. The figure was also a 70% increase from the prior week. Occupancy levels remained strong in the days following the match also, with many fans choosing to stay a few days longer before returning to their homes.

In Brisbane, a last-minute COVID-19 scare forced the city to limit the crowd size at the game to 75% of capacity, however the city still enjoyed a positive weekend. Hotel occupancy reached 53% with RevPAR climbing to AUD$209.15. The result was lower on the two semi-finals played one week earlier prior to the COVID restrictions, where the city hit a RevPAR figure of AUD$257.23.

STR said that despite the mixed results across the two cities, events will remain a strong catalyst in the economic recovery of both Brisbane and Perth.