Adelaide’s visitor economy sector is experiencing significant growth with a marked increase in interstate spending and a surge of hotel bookings, new figures show.
According to new Adelaide Economic Development Agency (AEDA) data, interstate expenditure reached $144 million in Q4 2024, up 27 per cent on the previous quarter.
Hotel room bookings were up 11 per cent on the previous quarter.
Visitor expenditure was one of many topics discussed at AEDA's Visitor Economy Update event on 19 February 2025, hosted at U-City and attended by more than 60 tourism leaders.
Speakers included AEDA Economic Research Advisor Jordon Tomopoulos, South Australian Tourism Commission Senior Manager of Strategy & Insights Adam Stanford, AEDA Tourism Industry Development Advisor Gemma Nelson and AEDA Marketing and Tourism Executive Director Michael Rossi.
Collaboratively, they created a narrative about Adelaide’s thriving visitor economy, the opportunities and challenges it faces and how AEDA and industry can work together to achieve a common goal—making the city the place to be.
Visit the city and stay in our hotels
Mr Tomopoulos said latest data showed the city’s visitor economy sector was in a positive space, highlighting expenditure and hotel bookings had been up.
He said major events such as LIV Golf, the Adelaide Fringe and business conferences had positively impacted numbers.
“We’ve seen some very great growth throughout the year,” Mr Tomopoulos said.
“The visitor economy has continued to show positive momentum, with increased passenger volumes through Adelaide Airport, strong accommodation demand, and high interstate expenditure."
Business event attendees were among the biggest spenders, forking out $1,165 a day in the city.
“Business events continue to play a significant role in driving visitation and spend, whilst major events and sporting matches spike short-term rental and hotel bookings.”
Mr Tomopoulos expected the demand for hotel rooms to remain consistently high in the future, so approved hotel developments would have a positive impact in the city.
“It is a strong pipeline of activity (in hotel developments), which I think is going to be a great to service to the demand of people we expect will come in,” he said.
The latest figures showed November 2024 set a record for hotel bookings, with 186,131 rooms reserved, surpassing the previous high of 183,591 bookings in April.
The 2024 OzAsia/Adelaide Film Festival opening weekend on 26-27 October, which coincided with Aged and Community Care National Conference, had the most hotel rooms booked in a single night at 7,249 in October.
It surpassed the rooms booked during the peak of the Test Series (7,213) by 36 rooms.
Revenue generated from hotel bookings was $115 million in Q4 2024, with each available room generating $163.
People visiting Adelaide are eager to spend money
Visitor expenditure in South Australia is projected to soar to $12.8 billion by 2030, according to Mr Stanford.
The last available data, from September 2024, showed visitor expenditure was $9.6 billion.
He said “leisure-event-motivated-expenditure” was growing rapidly, as recently seen during LIV Golf where hotel occupancy was more than 80 per cent.
He said hotel bookings look promising during the March long weekend (8–10 March), AFL Gather Round (10–13 April), British & Irish Lions Game (12 July), the Metallica concert (5 November) and Adelaide Test match (6 December).
“Leisure events expenditure has actually grown 17 or 18 per cent in the last 12 months, with $565 million spent at those events,” Mr Stanford said.
“But also, leisure expenditure has grown now, because it is all well and good to get people buying tickets… these people have bought hotel rooms, they’re likely to have dinner out and you are using a lot more services in South Australia.
“So interstate might be the minority of people attending the event, but they are majority of the spend associated with that event.”
Data showed people coming from New South Wales spent the most money ($47.6 million), followed by Victoria ($44.8 million), Queensland ($23 million), Western Australia ($14.4 million), Northern Territory ($7.1 million), Australian Capital Territory ($4.3 million) and Tasmania ($2.5 million).
AEDA is committed to helping your business thrive
AEDA is committed to supporting and growing the visitor economy, with goals that include increasing Adelaide’s desirability as a destination, expanding tourism products and experiences, and enhancing visitor servicing and accessibility.
Other objectives, all set out in AEDA’s Strategic Plan FY 2024/25 – 2028/29, include strengthening AEDA’s role as a key connector in the industry.
AEDA Tourism Industry Development Advisor Gemma Nelson said the key to a strong visitor economy sector would be everyone working together to achieve a common vision.
This would include “putting the visitor at the heart of decisions".
“We obviously all care very much about where we are, where we live and what we’re selling—we’re all very passionate about that,” Ms Nelson said.
“It is also good to get that in front of all our visitors that come in.”
Need more info?
For more information about the visitor economy sector in the city, visit AEDA's visitor economy page.