Julian Whiston, Senior Vice President Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels, said, “While the first quarter results for the market were tempered by softer than usual demand in January and February to a lesser extent, the Brisbane hotel market is now recovering strongly.”  Brisbane’s average room rate (ADR) for the first quarter of 2011 was $180.71 which is approximately 5.7% higher than the same period 2010.

Not surprisingly given the events of January, the first quarter saw occupancy decline slightly from 77.7% in 2010 to 74.7% in 2011, and as a result, year to date RevPAR (or Room Yield) grew by a relatively modest 1.7%.  Mr Whiston added, “Brisbane’s recovery becomes more pronounced when considering trading performance month to month.  In March ADR increased by 9.4% against the previous year with occupancy remaining more or less in line with March 2010, resulting in a 9.0% increase in RevPAR in March.  These strong March results add to the February gains when ADR grew by 4.9% compared to 2010.”

As a market with robust underlying corporate demand, growing appeal as a host city for a range of leisure and business events and very limited new supply, the most recent data confirms Brisbane’s status as one of Australia’s strongest hotel markets that has bounced back decisively from the January floods.