Events helped Sydney’s hotel industry achieve year-on-year performance growth in June 2026, resulting in the highest occupancy since June 2019.
According to preliminary data from CoStar, Vivid Sydney, the Al Shami concert and the Sydney Film Festival saw average occupancy for the month reach 74.1 per cent (+1.1 per cent year-on-year).
Occupancy peaked over the King’s Birthday long weekend, reaching 92.7 per cent on Saturday 6 June.
Vivid Sydney is owned, managed and produced by Destination NSW, with the agency also proudly supporting the Sydney Film Festival.
STR Regional Director Matthew Burke said “Given the 0.1 per cent supply decrease in the market, all demand growth builds occupancy in Sydney.
“The annual Vivid Sydney and Sydney Film Festival underpin demand for Sydney’s historically softest occupancy month.”
The occupancy results follow another successful year for Vivid Sydney 2026, which delivered a strong program across the city, featuring 217 events and more than 2200 sessions across 89 locations.
The new-look Fire Kitchen at Barangaroo proved to be highly successful with more than 250,000 dishes and drinks sold, highlighting the strong appetite for unforgettable culinary experiences.
More than 15,000 visitors experienced Cristal Palace at the Sydney Opera House Forecourt, the festival’s first major outdoor spectacle, while Vivid LIVE recorded its strongest box office result since COVID-19, with nearly 40,000 tickets sold.
Vivid Sydney 2027 will take place from Friday 28 May to Saturday 19 June, with the program shifting slightly from previous years to better align with the timing of the June public holiday.
