SYDNEY Hotel bookings in the Sydney area during the Olympic Games have not materialised at the high levels initially expected, according to a survey by PricewaterhouseCoopers hospitality and leisure practice.
The survey indicates that although a handful of hoteliers have lengthy contracts with Olympics organisers, most visitors arrived only days prior to the Games opening ceremony and plan to leave shortly after the closing ceremony. Initial forecasts predicted that 70% to 80% of rooms would be booked from mid-August to mid-October to accommodate the Olympic family.
The Olympics also sparked a boom in Sydney s hotel supply, which has seen its largest ever room count increase over the past eighteen months.
The increase in quality new rooms will leave the industry well-placed to capture demand growth opportunities in the post-Olympic era, said Kieron Ritchard, associate director of PricewaterhouseCoopers hospitality and leisure practice.
However, Ritchard noted that the Sydney hotel market would likely enter a short to medium term supply and demand imbalance following the Olympic Games, as demand growth lags the sharp pre-Olympic increase in hotel rooms. (9/18/00)