Australian hotels are moving from room first to experience first, and they are doing it fast.
Between a new MGallery coming to Noosa, an Avani opening on the Sunshine Coast in April, and Eos by SkyCity adding a fresh spa experience, the signal is hard to miss. The next cycle of growth will be won on sensory design, wellness, and place specific storytelling.
Why this matters now
Awards season tends to crystallize what the industry values. If the nominees lean into design, service theatre, and experiential amenities, that becomes the playbook others follow.
Regional leisure markets like Noosa and the Sunshine Coast are not chasing overflow demand anymore. They are setting the bar for high yield, experience led stays that can rival capital city offerings.
The spa news from Eos by SkyCity is not a side note. Wellness has moved from nice to have to primary driver of length of stay, average rate, and direct booking preference.
What it means for the industry
Product strategy will tilt toward holistic experiences rather than asset checklists. Rooms remain the anchor, but the margin story shifts to spa, culinary, and signature programming.
This raises the content bar. Experience sells through feeling, not features, which means hotels need cinematic storytelling, not just room shots and rate banners.
From a tech lens, expect tighter integration between booking engines, spa and activity inventory, and guest profiles. The brand that personalizes pre arrival prompts for wellness, dining, and local adventures will capture more ancillary revenue.
Operations will need new muscles. Training for sensory service, pacing, and cross departmental choreography becomes as important as front desk efficiency.
Pricing strategy will evolve toward packaging and yield on experiences, not only room types. That demands better data models and real time merchandising in the booking flow.
My take for storytellers and marketers
If you are marketing a hotel right now, treat experience like a product launch. Build hero content around the transformation arc a guest feels across two or three moments, not a catalogue of amenities.
Film the journey that starts with breathwork in the spa, moves to a chef led tasting that sources locally, and ends on a coastal sunrise with a quiet coffee. That sequence sells both rate and reputation.
Publish micro itineraries that are actually bookable. Pair each with a short video cut, a clear call to action, and real availability so inspiration converts without friction.
Invest in first party data by connecting content engagement to preference capture. If a guest watches your wellness reel twice, surface spa slots and recovery add ons during checkout.
The macro backdrop supports this pivot. Global travel demand is tilting toward meaning and memory, and the properties leaning into that will outperform volatility.
McKinsey’s latest view on travel points to experiences as a durable growth lever, even as patterns shift across regions. Their 2024 State of Travel report tracks how value is consolidating around differentiated stays.
In short, the brands betting on experience in Australia are not just following a trend. They are resetting the basis of competition for the next decade.
I will be watching how these openings and upgrades translate into content, data, and yield. The winners will make guests feel something and make that feeling easy to book.
Joshua Campbell
Director