The AFL Gather Round Footy Festival attracted a big crowd on its first day. Picture: Mark Brake/AFL Photos/Getty Images.
Anxiety over the fuel crisis appears to have eased among footy fans, with a last-minute rush from interstate and regional travellers booking Adelaide accommodation for this weekend’s Gather Round.
Despite sluggish bookings last month, Australian Hotels Association South Australia chief executive officer Anna Moeller said this week had seen a flurry of hotel reservations to put total accommodation bookings for the Festival of Footy back on par with last year.
“At about three weeks out (from Gather Round, which coincided with the start of fuel shortages), there was a slight softening (in booking numbers) – it was probably five per cent down from the same time last year, which wasn’t too bad given the circumstances,’’ Ms Moeller said.
“We thought it was going to get much worse the next week but … the worst it got was eight per cent down.
“Then last week, we really did catch up and we’re now sitting on par with (accommodation bookings for Gather Round for) the same time last year.’’
High fuel prices and concerns about supply weren’t enough to stop people from attending the event. Picture: Morgan Hancock/Getty Images.
Ms Moeller believed the federal government’s announcement last week that it would halve the fuel excise, followed by an agreement with state and territory leaders to use GST revenue to further cut fuel prices, had given “people that were borderline and not quite sure’’ about Gather Round the confidence to attend.
She said other incentives, along with fuel price apps that showed motorists where to buy the cheapest petrol, had also helped convince footy fans to travel to SA for the weekend.
“The cost (of fuel), for a lot of people, wasn’t the main issue,’’ Ms Moeller said.
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“The thing that was putting them off was (thinking), ‘What if we get stranded because we can’t get fuel?’ but once there was a bit more detail that there is fuel available, it made people feel better (about attending the football).
“We are really optimistic. This has played out far better than what we expected.’’
Belle Property Escapes manager Nitin Deshpande said the fuel crisis had not had any impact on this weekend’s city accommodation bookings, with all but one of his short-term holiday rentals fully booked.
Short-stay accommodation bookings have been largely unaffected. Picture: Supplied.
“At the moment, things seem pretty normal,’’ Mr Deshpande said.
“I haven’t seen any impact (from the fuel crisis). There’s still traffic on the street and people are still driving.’’
Linda Lai, operations manager at Adelaide short-term accommodation provider Celestia Homes, said her properties were also booked out for the weekend and she had received no cancellations.
“So far, everything is going well,’’ Ms Lai said.
“They (travellers staying at Celestia Homes accommodation) made their bookings quite early this year – before all this (fuel uncertainty) happened, so it’s not affecting bookings at all.
“People that normally come to these sporting events have already saved and planned for it, so they will still go.’’
However, Ms Lai noted bookings were down from usual numbers for stays from mid-April onwards.