Regional South Australia is celebrating a new all-time high, with more rooms booked across the regions in October 2023 than any other month on record.
More than 146,000 rooms were occupied across regional South Australia during the month of October - the best month ever and nearly 20,000 more rooms than in the same month pre pandemic.
Since the start of 2022, regional South Australia has seen every month exceed pre COVID levels - making it 22 consecutive months which have performed better than the same month in 2019.
The 'wine regions' (Adelaide Hills, Barossa and Clare Valley combined) also celebrated a record-high, with more rooms occupied across the three regions in October than any other month before.
The new data comes as key milestones are reached for the state's Murray River regions as well as Kangaroo Island.
The travel period for round two of the South Australian Tourism Commission's River Revival Voucher program ends this Friday, with confirmation of the economic impact and details of the third round to be announced next month.
Applications for the $300,000 Mid Murray River Tourism Business Support Program - part of the State Government's $4.6 million river tourism recovery plan - closed last Friday. A total of 14 applications were received from tourism operators across the Mid Murray Council region and low-lying neighbouring areas, with details of successful grant recipients to be announced soon.
In a further sign of strong regional recovery, Kangaroo Island's iconic Southern Ocean Lodge will reopen its doors to guests next week. The new $55 million rebuild will see the luxury accommodation once again draw visitors from across the nation and the world to experience the best of Kangaroo Island and further drive the region's visitor economy.
Also, to be announced next month is the opening date for the 2024/25 round of the SATC's Regional Event Fund. This year the Fund supported 33 events across the state, helping strengthen South Australia's events calendar and driving visitation across the regions.
Regional accommodation highlights for the month of October 2023 (source: STR):
- With 146,095 room nights occupied across regional South Australia during the month of October 2023, it is the best month on record.
- It is 16 per cent up on pre pandemic levels, with just 126,204 room nights occupied across regional South Australia in October 2019.
- The 'wine regions' (Adelaide Hills, Barossa and Clare Valley combined) saw more room nights occupied in October 2023 than any other month on record, with a total of 22,356 rooms occupied during October.
- All regions saw rooms occupied exceed pre pandemic levels, with the Limestone Coast up a whopping 33% on October 2019 and the 'Inland' regions (Flinders Ranges & Outback, Murray River Lakes & Coorong, and Riverland) up 21%.
- Since the start of 2022, regional SA has seen every month exceed pre COVID levels - making it 22 consecutive months which have performed better than the same month in 2019.
Minister for Tourism, Zoe Bettison said it is terrific news for regional South Australia, as we celebrate the best month ever for regional accommodation in the state.
"More rooms occupied in regional South Australia than any other month before it, and 22 consecutive months of room bookings in the regions exceeding levels prior to the pandemic," Minister Bettison said.
"These brilliant results are thanks to continued strength in intrastate and interstate visitation and the recovering international market, and they demonstrate real demand for experiencing regional South Australia.
"We're doing everything we can to keep driving strong demand, through initiatives like the River Revival Voucher program which has supported the river regions to recover from the impacts of last summer's flood to the Regional Event Fund helping strengthen our state's events calendar.
"I'm thrilled to see the iconic Southern Ocean Lodge on Kangaroo Island soon reopen to guests, which will once again draw visitors from around the world to experience this award-winning region"
