Australian Open tops AFL and Boxing Day Test as corporate crowd-puller

The Australian Open tennis tournament has been identified as Melbourne’s most popular sporting event among corporate travellers, topping the AFL Grand Final, Melbourne Cup and Boxing Day Test.

The newly published data from Flight Centre Travel Group’s small-to-medium enterprise arm Corporate Traveller has revealed that flight, ground transport and hotel booking data around the Australian Open is set to grow even further this year, with forecast bookings rising 21% on last year.

Corporate Traveller recorded 725% more bookings to the 2023 Australian Open than to the 2023 Boxing Day Test, 73% more than to the AFL Grand Final and 56% more than to the Melbourne Cup.

For international corporate bookings to the four main events, the Australian Open is also a clear winner. Corporate Traveller recorded 89% more international bookings for Melbourne during the Australian Open than the Melbourne Cup, 46% more than the AFL Grand Final and 9% more than the Boxing Day Test.

Corporate Traveller recorded 11% more domestic corporate bookings to the 2023 Melbourne Cup than to the AFL Grand Final. However, when it came to international corporate bookings, the AFL Grand Final trumped Melbourne Cup, with 30% more bookings. The 2023 Grand Final between the Brisbane Lions and Collingwood drew capacity crowds of 100,024 to the MCG for the second year in a row. Media reports estimated more than 80,000 people attended Melbourne Cup 2023, up on 73,816 in 2022.

Among those arriving in Melbourne during the Australian Open this year, the highest proportion of bookings from a single city came from Sydney (29% of total bookings), followed by Brisbane (16%), Adelaide (9%), Perth (9%), Canberra (2%), and outside of Australia (14%). Sydney also tallied the most bookings during Melbourne’s other three big-ticket sporting events.

This year, the top international origin cities attracting corporate travellers to the Australian Open - in order of booking volumes - are Auckland, Dubai, Singapore, Los Angeles, Doha, Christchurch and Wellington.

Explaining the finding, Tom Walley, Corporate Traveller’s Australian-based Global Managing Director, advised “the Australian Open will run over 15 days this year, and it is held during the holiday period when people are enjoying time with family and friends. It is summer too, so the warmer weather gets everyone out and about.

“Melbourne Park may not have the same seating capacity as Melbourne’s other three main sporting events at the MCG and Flemington, but it has everything else on its side to draw the biggest crowds.

“Many corporate travellers have booked fares well in advance to avoid holiday airfare price increases. These events are also the perfect opportunity to blend business travel with leisure. With Melbourne being home to several sporting events, business travellers can network and host their clients, while also offering tickets as an employee incentive.”

The research did not include the Formula One Grand Prix.

Images: Crowds at the Australian Open (top) and the 2023 Boxing Day Test at the MCG (below, credit: Colin 'Bomber' Dale).