MEDIA RELEASE
March 13, 2007	Embargoed 11:30am (AEDT)	29/2007
Fewer beds but more jobs and money in ACT hotels and motels: ABS

There are less tourism beds than five years ago in the ACT however profit takings have grown, according to recently released data by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

The number of guest rooms (in hotels, motels and serviced apartments with 15 or more rooms) in the ACT dropped by 1.3% (down to 5,046) and the number of bed spaces declined by 3% (to 14,639) between September 2001 and September 2006.

Takings increased by 27% in the same time period, from $129.8 million to $164.9 million; nationally, takings increased by 36%.

A total of 2,559 people were employed, an increase of 14.2% since 2001; nationally, employment increased by 3.6% for the same period.

Guest arrivals in the year to September 2006 were 0.2% higher than the year to September 2001, and 1.1% higher than the year to September 2005.

The length of stay in the ACT increased from 2.3 to 2.4 days.

More information can be found in ACT Stats, March 2007 (cat. no. 1344.8.55.001).