DECEMBER KEY FIGURES

Accommodation with 15 rooms or more		Sep Qtr 2012	Dec Qtr 2012	Sep 12 to Dec Qtr 12	Dec Qtr 11 to Dec Qtr 12
Trend
	Takings from accommodation ($m)	2248.2	2252.6	0.2%	2.9%
	Room occupancy rate (%)	65.8	65.5	-0.3 pts	-0.4 pts
Seasonally Adjusted
	Takings from accommodation ($m)	2248.2	2251	0.1%	3.4%
	Room occupancy rate (%)	65.7	65.5	-0.2 pts	-0.3 pts

Source(s): Tourist Accommodation, Australia

Source(s): Tourist Accommodation, Australia

DECEMBER KEY POINTS


ACCOMMODATION TAKINGS

• In the December quarter 2012, the trend estimate of total accommodation takings for hotels, motels and serviced apartments with 15 or more rooms increased by 0.2% to $2252.6 million compared with the September quarter 2012.
• Over the same period, the seasonally adjusted estimate increased by 0.1% to $2251.0 million.
• The Northern Territory recorded the largest increase in accommodation takings (7.4%) in seasonally adjusted terms. This growth may be a result of the multi-billion dollar gas projects in the area.

ROOM OCCUPANCY RATE

• The December quarter 2012 trend estimate room occupancy rate for hotels, motels and serviced apartments with 15 or more rooms decreased by 0.3 percentage points to 65.5% compared with the September quarter 2012.
• Over the same period, the seasonally adjusted estimate decreased by 0.2 percentage points to 65.5%.
• The Northern Territory had the largest increase in room occupancy (3.4%) and the Australian Capital Territory had the largest decrease (-2.7%), in seasonally adjusted terms. A likely cause of the decrease in room occupancy in the ACT is the reduction in government air travel spending.

NOTES

FORTHCOMING ISSUES

ISSUE (QUARTER)	Release Date
March 2013	28 June 2013
June 2013	30 September 2013

ABOUT THIS ISSUE

This issue presents results from the December quarter 2012 Survey of Tourist Accommodation (STA) for the following categories of establishments:

• hotels and resorts with 15 or more rooms
• motels, private hotels and guest houses with 15 or more rooms
• serviced apartments with 15 or more units

GEOGRAPHY CHANGES

The March quarter 2012 release of STA data was the first to incorporate the Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS) as the geographical framework for the collection. Detailed information on the transition of the STA to the ASGS and how the data is impacted by this change is contained in Information Paper: Future Changes to Tourist Accommodation, Australia (cat. no. 8635.0.55.003)

A summary of the main changes resulting from the move to ASGS are:

• Small area data is now produced at Statistical Area Level 2 (SA2), replacing Statistical Local Areas (SLA).
• Tourism Regions (TRs) will be constructed from allocations of SA2s and as a result will change. For some TRs, these changes are minimal.
• Data for Local Government Areas (LGAs) and Special area - Brisbane City Core will no longer be produced.

INQUIRIES

For further information about these and related statistics, contact the National Information and Referral Service on 1300 135 070.


SUMMARY COMMENTARY


ORIGINAL

Hotels, motels and serviced apartments

This summary contains key findings for original estimates. Original series are impacted by seasonal variations and irregular or non-seasonal influences. Comparison between quarters should be made with caution.

Accommodation takings

In the December quarter 2012, accommodation takings were $2356.2 million for hotels, motels and serviced apartments with 15 or more rooms.

Accommodation takings in the December quarter 2012 for hotels, motels and serviced apartments with 15 or more rooms were highest in New South Wales ($757.9 million) and Queensland ($604.6 million). The Australian Capital Territory recorded the lowest takings for the period ($53.5 million).

For Australia, the December quarter 2012 average takings per room night occupied were $168.03 for establishments with 15 or more rooms. This was 2.4% higher than the December quarter 2011 ($164.06).

Room occupancy rate

The room occupancy rate for hotels, motels and serviced apartments with 15 or more rooms was 67.0% in the December quarter 2012.

Traditionally, hotels have higher occupancy rates than motels or serviced apartments. Over the December 2012 quarter, hotels had an occupancy rate of 72.3% compared with 59.0% for motels and 70.7% for serviced apartments.

Five out of the eight states and territories experienced a decrease in the occupancy rate of hotels, motels and serviced apartments with 15 or more rooms between the December quarter 2011 and the December quarter 2012. The Australian Capital Territory (65.8%) experienced the largest decrease (6.3 percentage points). Over the same period, occupancy in the Northern Territory (62.4%) increased by 1.0 percentage point.

Western Australia recorded the highest occupancy rate (68.9%) in the December quarter 2012 followed by Victoria (67.6%) and New South Wales (67.5%) Over the same period, Tasmania experienced the lowest occupancy rate (61.9%).

Room nights Occupied

Room nights occupied were 14.0 million in the December quarter 2012 for hotels, motels and serviced apartments with 15 or more rooms.

New South Wales contributed the largest proportion (30.9%) of room nights occupied for hotels, motels and serviced apartments with 15 or more rooms, followed by Queensland (26.9%).

Average Length of Stay

The average length of stay over the December quarter 2012 for hotels, motels and serviced apartments with 15 or more rooms was 2.3 days. Queensland reported the longest average length of stay (2.7 days) followed by Western Australia (2.4 days). Tasmania had the shortest average length of stay (1.9 days).