Australia, which hosted the Ashes Test Series, held 2010 November-2011 February, has reported performance increases across the host cities, according to data from STR Global, the leading provider of market data to the world’s hotel industry.

Australia has fared reasonably well in the recent economic downturn with year-over-year revenue per available room (RevPAR) up a steady 7.1 percent in year-to-date November 2010. This was driven predominately by an improvement in occupancy (4.6 percent), which supported an increase in rates (2.4 percent). The cities that hosted test matches on the Cricket tour between November 2010 and January 2011 all saw appreciable peaks in average daily rate (ADR) for the weeks of each test match.

The five host cities-Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth, Melbourne and Sydney-all benefitted in both rate and occupancy terms for their test match week (Test Week) and to a greater or lesser degree the weeks before (T-1 and T-2) and after (T+1 and T+2).

Brisbane, currently suffering from unprecedented flooding, posted the highest increase in year-over-year ADR of all five cities with growth of 33.6 percent. All the cities had increases of more than 20 percent except Melbourne, which hosted the so-called Boxing Day test and reported a 9.7-percent ADR increase.

The Ashes, a cricket test series played over five matches between England and Australia, have a fierce rivalry dating back to 1882. Each match can last up to five days, and the English team attracts a huge travelling support. The Barmy Army, as England’s supporters are known, reputedly numbering in the thousands, travel from venue to venue, bring with them demand for hotel accommodation together with that from local supporters and the media that accompany such events. The series is played biennially, alternately between the United Kingdom and Australia, and has just concluded with a crushing victory by England, three tests to one, meaning they retained the Ashes.

“Hotels in the cities that hosted tests on the recent Ashes tour all benefitted, and this has helped to contribute to a reasonable performance for Australia’s hotel market as a whole”, explained Elizabeth Randall, managing director of STR Global.