Melbourne City Council has reported that the city’s retail and hospitality industry is at a record high with the contribution to Melbourne’s economy up 13% since 2013.
Some features of the report include –
- Retail and hospitality accounts for six per cent of Melbourne’s $90.6 billion economy.
- Last year alone we have hosted more than 11 million visitors and our hotel occupancy rates remain high at 86 per cent.
- Retail and hospitality floor space occupancy is up three per cent to more than 2.78 million m2
Recent data also shows there are 1,418 hotel rooms under construction and 3,265 hotel rooms have planning approval and are likely to begin construction in the next two years. There are a further 4,822 hotel rooms in the pipeline.
- More than 35,000m2 of retail space is under construction.
Plans for the coming year include -
- Supporting major retail developments including the St Collins Lane due to open in May 2016.
- Leveraging opportunities with major conferences as well as our bumper events calendar.
- Ongoing engagement and collaboration with business and industry particularly around the Melbourne Metro Rail Project, Flinders Street Station redevelopment, QVM renewal project and the review of the current strategy.
The full report is available here - Retail and Hospitality Strategy Report 2014-15
Have Your Say - click here.