Tourism awards, business events set record

I joined Tourism Australia’s delegation of Australian tourism leaders in India last week.  

We met with key industry stakeholders to strengthen ties with this important and growing international market – with a significant focus on driving more visitation to South Australia.  

Major business events have made a significant contribution to Adelaide breaking hotel occupancy records in October, achieving the first and second strongest number of room nights occupied ever.

Recent figures from hotel data analytics firm STR, show the nights of Tuesday 22 October and Wednesday 23 October recorded 10,416 and 10,279 room nights occupied respectively across greater metropolitan Adelaide.   

These occupancy results are on the back of a series of major business events being held at Adelaide Convention Centre across this period including the Aged & Community Care Providers Association (ACCPA) National Conference 2024.  

In 2024, South Australia hosted a diverse range of business events. These include the Asia Pacific Hotel & Industry Conference, for the fourth year running, attracting a record 1,500 delegates from over 40 countries as well as the Australian Cruise Association Annual Conference.

In the last month, the SATC has kicked off its series of Regional Forums, with events held in Murray River Lakes & Coorong, Adelaide Hills, Flinders Rangers & Outback, as well as the Fleurieu and Eyre Peninsulas.  

It has been important for the SATC Executive team to sense test some of our ideas around the strategic direction of tourism for South Australia, as we look to refresh our State’s Visitor Economy Sector Plan 2030.

Thank you to everyone who has attended so far. What has been particularly great to see is our industry’s willingness to think about the ‘big picture’ of tourism for our State. As the STO, we are pretty excited about the year that lays ahead, and we can take a “Team SA” approach with you all to grow our State’s appeal and consideration as a destination.   

There is still time to register for the remaining Forums – see the links further below.

Congratulations to all the winners from the 2024 South Australian Tourism Awards. It was a great night, and an important showcase of the hardworking folks that make up our industry in SA. Well done to the Tourism Industry Council SA for putting on the event, and to everyone who took time to put in a submission.

Emma Terry

Chief Executive Officer
South Australian Tourism Commission

Read full Industry Update - 22 November 2024