W Brand’s new capital city hotels for Australia.
W Brand is moving into the Australian market with capital city hotels.
It’s the brand’s re-entry into Australia and the opening of Brisbane’s first new five-star hotel in 20 years at 81 North Quay in June will mark the occasion.
In 1919, W Brand is opening W Sydney at Darling Harbour followed by W Melbourne in Collins Street, in 2020.
The Brisbane hotel will offer 312 rooms with views over South Bank and west to Mount Coot-tha.
All that in addition to the brand’s “whatever whenever” service philosophy.
Brisbane’s last five-star hotel was the Marriott at Petrie Bight, the place that hosted then US president Barack Obama during the 2014 G20 summit.
Deloitte partner and national tourism, hospitality and leisure leader Adele Labine-Romain said the new W hotels to Australia would have an impact on the market, coming at a time when other high-end brands such as Ritz Carlton and Mandarin Oriental are also due to open hotels in Australia for the first time in coming years.
“The next two years will see the largest amount of new rooms becoming available with an increase of 3.4 per cent to total supply each year,” Ms Labine-Romain told The Australian. “Despite expectations of limited growth in occupancy rates, these and other luxury properties will help push the average daily rate upward over the three-year forecast period, growing at 2.8 per cent a year.”
She said average room rates had been rising in the 10 years since the global financial crisis. Rates rose 2.4 per cent last year to $161, paving the way for solid growth in revenue per available room, of 3 per cent over the year. At the same time, room occupancy was rising.
“Occupancy rates are considered strong across the country, and then when you look across our capital cities most are sitting in the high 70s to mid-to-high 80s and that’s really high overall,” Ms Labine-Romain told The Australian.
“The pipeline we can see coming will have an impact but in time the stronger demand profile that’s underlying the market will see it come good.”
Leon Getler 16th March
