South Australia welcomes record monthly visitor spending

South Australia has recorded its best ever monthly visitor spend in April driven by strong interstate and domestic day trips spend on the back of the inaugural LIV Golf Adelaide and AFL Gather Round.

Newly released data from Tourism Research Australia shows total visitor expenditure in South Australia in April was $954 million, up 38% on 2019 levels.

It comes as new figures from hotel data analytics firm STR show Adelaide ranked second highest occupancy in April out of 14 major cities across Australia and New Zealand with an average occupancy for the month of 70%, second only to Perth.

Welcoming the findings, South Australian Tourism Minister, Zoe Bettison stated “(this is) further proof that the nation’s first AFL Gather Round and LIV Golf tournament were huge successes, we’ve reached a new record-high monthly tourism spend.

“This is exactly why we invest in major events and in securing new and exciting nation-firsts - it brings people and dollars into our state and it strengthens our economy.”

Adelaide Oval Chief Executive, Nick Addison said April was a historic month for the venue, noting “wWe welcomed tens of thousands of footy fans from all over the country to the inaugural AFL Gather Round.

“Our functions and events team also hosted the LIV Golf welcome party which set the tone for another fantastic South Australian event, while Oval Hotel was packed with footy fans, golf fans and other visitors all month long.

“We know that major events held at Adelaide Oval reverberate beyond the stadium, across the CBD and the state, with the economic benefits felt particularly by the hospitality and tourism industries.

“It’s fantastic to see that economic impact continue to grow in line with the state’s expanding calendar of events.”

Image: The Adelaide Oval and the River Torrens. Credit: iStock/Ben Goode.