Adelaide’s Harvest Rock festival demonstrates economic value of major events

The return of the Harvest Rock music festival to Adelaide saw hotel room bookings reach new highs – demonstrating the economic value of such major events

Harvest Rock II saw 9,984 rooms occupied across Adelaide on Saturday 28th October – making it the best Saturday night on record and just one room shy of the best night of all time, which is currently held by Wednesday 11th October 2023 when the Australian Masters Games was in town.

The days leading up to and over Harvest Rock saw hotel bookings hit an all-time high, with rooms occupied from Tuesday 24th October to Saturday 28th October at an average of 9,679 each night – making it the best Tuesday to Saturday on record.

The latest figures from hotel data analytics firm, STR show the new Tuesday to Saturday record generated more than $11.5 million for Adelaide’s visitor economy in hotel bookings value alone.

The data demonstrates the economic value of major events and comes as the state gears up for another high-octane boost with Feast Festival, Handpicked Festival, Shannon’s Adelaide Rally, CheeseFest, and VAILO Adelaide 500 all on this month.

SA Tourism Minister Zoe Bettison noted “Another record month for tourism in South Australia and a full 14 months where we’ve seen visitor expenditure hit monthly all-time highs.

“There’s no doubt the string of major events will also entice people to visit and explore our state, experience our unique regions and iconic destinations our award-winning laneway bars and restaurants – all of it adding to our state’s economy and our growing reputation as the place to be.”