MELBOURNE, Australia—Melbourne has successfully established itself as one of the great event cities not only in Australia, but in the world. The city’s hotels rely on these events to create peak demand periods and help boost occupancy and room rates.
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Damien Little |
Many of the major events that take place are sporting events, and both domestic and international tourism rely heavily on Melbourne’s packed event calendar—a calendar that includes the Australian Open Tennis, (one of the four grand slam events); the Australian Formula One Grand Prix; the Australian Football League Grand Final; and the Spring Racing Carnival. These four events underpin the Melbourne event calendar and are what Tourism Victoria hangs its hat on to entice other events to the city and to promote Melbourne and Victoria as a whole. In 2008, these four events drew a total of about 1.7 million people, which for a city of 3.8 million people and a total Australian population of about 21 million, is a significant number.
Three of the four events have deep historical roots extending more than 100 years (Australian Open 1905, VFL/AFL Grand Final 1897 and the Melbourne Cup 1861), while the fourth event, the Australian Grand Prix, had its origins back in 1928; during the 1950s, races were held on the Albert Park circuit. As such (other than the reincarnated Australian Grand Prix), these events are by no means modern, marketing-driven events created purely for tourism, but primarily are celebrated local sporting events.
A key reason for the success of these events is they are all located close to Melbourne’s centre, making the city a very lively and dynamic place to be. The Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne Park (home to the Australian Open), and the grand prix track at Albert Park are all close to the city centre. Flemington Racecourse is also close to the city centre and is well-serviced with a dedicated rail line.
One day in September
The MCG is in walking distance from Melbourne’s central business district, and each weekend during the 26-week AFL season, flocks of supporters can be seen teeming Melbourne’s inner-city streets before and after games. About 2.8 million people attended an AFL game at the MCG in 2008, while total attendance at AFL games across the country reached just over 7 million.
Clearly the AFL Grand Final, which has become a weeklong event itself, generates the largest share of AFL-generated demand for Melbourne’s hotels, but other large games through the season also bring in a lot of people from country Victoria as well as interstate and even overseas. In 2008, 15 AFL games attracted more than 70,000 people to the ground each, including 100,012 for the AFL Grand Final, which is televised not only across the nation, but also globally to a growing number of interested sports fans.
The MCG has been home to Victorian sport, many would say Australian sport, for more than 150 years and has hosted many great sporting events, including the 1956 Olympic Games, the 2006 Commonwealth Games, the first international cricket match held between England and Australia in 1877, more than 100 VFL/AFL grand finals, as well as World Cup qualifying games and international Rugby Union games. The current capacity of the MCG is a shade more than 100,000, and the ground holds many attendance records including those for Australian rules football (121,696), rugby league (87,000), rugby union (91,000), cricket (90,600) and even baseball (102,000 at an exhibition game during the 1956 Olympics).
In addition to the AFL, the MCG hosts a number of high profile international cricket matches each year, large-scale concerts (U2, Rolling Stones, Madonna have all played at the stadium) and other sporting events. It is easy to see how important this stadium is to tourism in Melbourne and that it is a significant generator of demand for Melbourne’s inner-city hotels.
Melbourne’s grand slam
The Australian Open is housed at Melbourne Park, which is in walking distance from the MCG, and together these world-class facilities form the heart of Melbourne’s world-class sporting precinct. The tournament set attendance records in 2007 and 2008 of 554,858 and 605,735, respectively, and recorded another solid performance in 2009 with a total of 603,160. For 10 consecutive years attendance has been in excess of 500,000.
Due to the high international profile of the event and the participants, of the four key sporting events in Melbourne, the Australian Open has the biggest international drawing power. Attendance numbers increase as the excitement builds in the first week of the tournament and hotels in the city start to fill. The second and final week of the event typically sees most city hotels full or close to full occupancy and room rates increase. The event benefits all star rating categories in the city from five-star international luxury hotels to unrated backpacker hostels. The event also draws on a huge national and international audience via the television, providing significant marketing for the city of Melbourne.
The race that stops a nation
The Spring Carnival draws the highest aggregate numbers of the four cornerstone events. It is drawn out over a much longer period, running from mid October through mid-November and is comprised of 89 race meets, of which 13 are held in the Melbourne metropolitan area. In 2008, a total of about 758,000 people attended racing events and, according to Racing Victoria, more than 90,000 international and interstate visitors attended race meets during the carnival, the majority of which attended high-profile races such as the Melbourne Cup, Caulfield Cup, Oakes Day and Derby Day.
The marquee event of the carnival is the Melbourne Cup, and it is known as the race that stops the nation, as almost every Australian, from children in classrooms to office workers, stop and watch the race. In 2008, the attendance for the Melbourne Cup at Flemington racecourse was 107,000. The Melbourne Cup clearly provides the biggest boost for hotel demand in the city of all races on the carnival calendar. However, the other big race meets also create a buzz in the city and boost demand for hotels.
F1 on the lake
The Australian Formula 1 Grand Prix, held in Melbourne since 1996, is the most controversial of the four key events. Public debate has raged since it was first announced that the race would move from Adelaide to Melbourne, and there has always been opposition against it, particularly given the large amount of taxpayer money used to purchase the right to stage the event. As part of the Formula 1 circuit, the event is not viewed as a home-grown event, even though the Australian Grand Prix has been held since 1928 and Australia has a great tradition in motor sports.
Attendance figures suggest the event also has decreasing public support, with the largest attendance recorded (401,000) in 1996, the first year it was held in Melbourne. By 2008, this had dropped to about 303,000 and in 2009 preliminary figures published indicated it dropped again to about 287,000.
In 2009, the economic crisis certainly had an impact, with the number of corporate stands less than in previous years. The city’s hotels also failed to sell out, and much of the decline in hotel rooms could be traced to a decrease in the number of corporate-sponsored travelers to the event. Booking lead times for the 2009 race shortened considerably, again an indication of the decline in corporate-sponsored packages, which tend to lock up room blocks early. However, given the room availability in the market, there were a lot more last-minute travelers booking rooms in the weeks and days leading up to the Grand Prix.
Regardless, the Victorian Government has secured the event up to 2015, and it will remain one of the cornerstones in the city’s tourism promotions.
… more than sport
Melbourne has much more to offer than sport, including an exuberant live music scene, great restaurants and cafés and a top fashion scene. Over the past few years, the city has garnered a reputation for its vibrant laneways and coffee culture.
Festivals such as the Melbourne International Comedy Festival (reputedly second only to Edinburgh), the Melbourne Fashion Festival and a strong arts scene add to a long list of activities available for visitors to Melbourne and will no doubt keep the local hotel industry thriving.