Record-breaking footy weekend | Vouchers boost bookings | Major trade event secured
There’s no doubt about it, the nation’s first AFL Gather Round over the weekend was a roaring success, culminating in AFL's confirmation that the footy festival will be hosted in South Australia for the next three seasons.
This is terrific news for our industry, as the inaugural event saw more than 220,000 fans attending nine matches over the four days, with over 60,000 of those from interstate.
The influx of fans helped boost flights into Adelaide Airport and saw hotel bookings hit a record high.
In fact, latest hotel forward booking data showed there were more hotel rooms booked over last Friday and Saturday than any other weekend before. With an average of 9,640 room nights occupied over the two days it surpassed the previous record-holding March 2023 long weekend.
More than 115,000 passengers were expected to pass through Adelaide Airport from last Thursday through to Sunday, making it the busiest four days for our city’s airport since before the pandemic.
The hive of activity was coupled with the start of the school holidays, which will no doubt see more people out and about across the regions over the coming fortnight.
The school holiday period presents a great opportunity for River Revival Voucher holders to redeem their voucher and experience a river get-away. As the booking deadline draws closer, we are upping our targeted marketing to help drive as many redemptions as possible.
A reminder that round one River Revival Vouchers must be booked by 28 April for travel through until 29 June. Vouchers are transferable, so we’ll also be encouraging voucher holders who aren’t able to use them to give them to a family member or friend who can.
In more good news for our state, it was confirmed last week that Adelaide will play host to one of the nation’s flagship tourism trade events this October. The Australian Tourism Export Council’s (ATEC) annual Meeting Place trade event will bring up to 500 tourism industry leaders to SA for three days of business-to-business meetings, networking events, and a conference program.
Hosting ATEC Meeting Place 2023 provides an opportunity to showcase our state directly to those who will help sell it around the world, helping drive the recovery of our state’s international visitor spend.
Our state's blockbuster events are not slowing down, with the nation's first LIV Golf tournament swinging into Adelaide this week, plus the Adelaide Equestrian Festival will draw record crowds in our city's parklands from Thursday. Both elite sporting events will see thousands flock to our city, while setting the world's eyes on South Australia.
Emma Terry
Chief Executive Officer