How to make the most of the interest rate cut? Get a room
Room bookings by leisure travellers surged nearly 15 per cent at one of the country's largest hotel chains after last week's interest rate cut by the Reserve Bank, a sign the cost-of-living crisis may be easing or at least taking a holiday.
The desire for a break after years of mortgage pain and rising living costs was evident in a 14.8 per cent lift in leisure travel bookings, an indicator of domestic demand, across global operator Accor's Australian network of hotels in the week following the Reserve's 25 basis point cut.
'With the reduction of the cash rate in February and then just now in May, we've seen an immediate positive increase in forward bookings for leisure destinations,' Accor's Pacific chief operating officer, Adrian Williams, said.
The group runs more than 400 hotels in Australia and New Zealand under the Sofitel, Pullman, Swissôtel, Mövenpick, Grand Mercure, Peppers, The Sebel and Mantra brands, among others.
Leisure bookings typically make up about two-thirds of travellers staying in its hotel network.
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Last week's rate cut was followed by this week's slightly higher-than-expected inflation figure of 2.4 per cent, although CreditorWatch chief economist Ivan Colhoun said the Reserve was still factoring in two more rate cuts, 'so further easing is still likely – though back-to-back cuts are now less probable due to inflation and global trade uncertainty.'
Williams said the surge in leisure bookings was a sign of the hotel sector's recovery as the group recorded its strongest annual performance in Australia since 2019.
That's despite a 21 per cent increase in new hotel rooms being built and added to Melbourne's accommodation market, where over a five-year period to January this year, 22 new hotels opened with more than 5000 rooms.
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