Fed: Hotel occupancy rates getting back to normal

00-00-0000
Fed: Hotel occupancy rates getting back to normal

By Caroline Adam

SYDNEY, Aug 22 AAP - The nation's hotel occupancy levels were finally getting backto normal as people regained confidence in international travel, the Australian HotelsAssociation (AHA) said today.

From June to July the national occupancy rate jumped by six per cent to 69.64 per cent,its highest level since March, the AHA said.

After a difficult downturn following the SARS epidemic, AHA deputy director AndrewWilsmore attributed the recent rise to increasing overseas visits to Australia.

"While many states have managed to improve on July 2002 figures, we anticipate a full-scalerecovery will come in the warmer months as people take holidays that were postponed earlierin the year because of SARS," Mr Wilsmore told AAP.

"Everything's been held back, and we're now starting to see a re-emergence of someof that travel that had been delayed."

Mr Wilsmore said the latest figures were returning to normal winter operating conditions.

"The principal reason confidence in travelling fell was because of SARS," Mr Wilsmore said.

"That really kept people at home, and they decided to take their holidays closer tohome and not leave for overseas destinations."

The conflict in Iraq had not significantly affected people's travel plans, he said.

Mr Wilsmore said the estimated 40,000 international visitors to Australia for the upcomingRugby World Cup would provide the nation's troubled tourism sector with a much-welcomeinjection.

"We're going to see a lot of people choose Australia as their holiday destination onthe back of the World Cup," he said.

The average national room rate for July was steady at $133.91.

AAP ca/kbw/cjm/de s

KEYWORD: HOTELS