8 minute read
Tourism Report
Good things come in threes as Queensland travel booms
By Grantlee Kieza, Industry Reporter
Queensland’s trio of long-weekends combined with the end of lockdowns generated a staggering $2 billion boost to the State's visitor economy.
Some holiday properties saw an increase of more than 50 per cent in REVPAR (Revenue Per Available Room).
Queensland Tourism Industry Council CEO Brett Fraser told Resort News that accommodation providers across the state had reported high occupancy rates during the April tourism season, as holidaymakers took full advantage of the Easter period. “After a challenging past two years, our state’s tourism operators are benefitting from renewed consumer sentiment and a desire to travel which has seen thousands of Australians exploring our great regions,” Mr Fraser said. The Gold Coast is experiencing a resurgence in the domestic market in 2022 not experienced since the 2015 to 2016 peak marketing campaign of “Australia’s Theme Park Capital”, when tourism levels were maintained throughout the year, and the domestic markets were clambering just to find enough rooms. During March and April 2022, interstate tourism from NSW and Victoria returned to the Gold Coast in droves, spending big on food and beverage, retail and entertainment, and highlighting the pent-up demand and euphoria of finally being let out to play. Paradise Resort encapsulated that trend, experiencing high demand across all areas of the resort, culminating in a 57 percent increase in RevPAR to $225.25.
General Manager David Brook said food and beverage sales had been at an all-time high with massive demands for the myriad of activities, entertainment and facilities, including the everpopular Kids Zone, water parks, laser tag and the property’s latest addition to the resort, the Pamper Parlour for hair braiding. “Looking forward, the forecast is for continuing strength in demand across the year ahead,” Mr Brook said.
“Bookings for the coming July, September and December school holidays are well above anything seen for many years. Encouragingly, there is a trend of extended stays averaging more than six nights per booking.” On the Sunshine Coast REVPAR figures were up 15 percent in March 2022 compared to March 2021 and heading north. Matt Stoeckel, CEO of Visit Sunshine Coast, said that despite sometimes variable weather, the Sunshine Coast had enjoyed an outstanding April. “The combination of Easter, school holidays, three long weekends in a row and some major events lifted occupancy to over 85 percent for the month, according to STR figures,” Mr Stoeckel said. “This was across the hotel sector, while other short-stay accommodation and camping grounds reported similar or even higher occupancies. “It is difficult to compare with performance over the past few years, because of the impact of the pandemic, but the figures reflect the strength of the domestic leisure market. Major events are now back on the calendar, while business events are slowly returning, and we are looking forward to some large conferences taking place in June that had been deferred from the past two years.” Mr Stoeckel said international visitation was still a long way from recovering, but the New Zealand market was showing greater activity and the return of direct flights into Sunshine Coast Airport in July would help lift occupancy over winter. Queensland’s Tourism Minister Stirling Hinchliffe said great deals on getaways in the state had helped create record travel for Easter.
The Scenic Rim is picture perfect for Queensland tourism
By Grantlee Kieza, Industry Reporter
In 1937 farmer Bernard O’Reilly made headlines around Australia for his rescue of survivors from an aeroplane crash in the rugged McPherson Range on the QueenslandNSW border.
Eighty-five years later the area is making world headlines as one of the best holiday destinations on the globe. O’Reilly’s family ran a small guesthouse as an offshoot for their dairy farm but in the process started a booming hospitality industry in the area that is now known as the Scenic Rim.
Located about 90 minutes inland from the Gold Coast, the Scenic Rim was last year recognised as one of travel bible Lonely Planet’s top 10 regions to visit in 2022, alongside such iconic destinations as Burgundy in France and Vancouver Island in Canada.
At the time, Daniel Gschwind, then the Queensland Tourism Industry Council chief executive, said the area had "come into its own" during the COVID-19 pandemic. "There's a bit of a silver lining from COVID that people looked closer to home to explore," Mr Gschwind said. "With a consumer trend towards authentic, real, personalised experiences some destinations in the Scenic Rim are just hitting the mark." As Queensland tourism is set to boom in the post-COVID era, the Scenic Rim looks set to be one of the State’s most popular destinations for a long time to come. While it might not have the vast array of accommodation options or the surf and sand of the Gold and Sunshine Coasts, the Scenic Rim offers visitors stunning views, lush tropical rainforests and bushwalking experiences with an abundance of wildlife not seen anywhere else in the world. There are some imports too, and Summer Land Camels at Harrisville is the third biggest camel farm in the world. Tourism started in the Scenic Rim after large parts of the area were classified as national parks and much of the astonishing countryside remains untamed. In 1912, eight men from the O'Reilly family came to Queensland from the Blue Mountains in NSW to take up 40 hectares of cheap land in the shadow of the McPherson Range. They cleared some of the bush with axes and saws, and started dairy farming and timber cutting, but they struggled to make their hard work pay. Then, in 1915 Lamington National Park was established around their farm, making their property an isolated island surrounded by bush. Rather than go under, the O'Reillys decided to use the situation for their advantage and founded their Rainforest Retreat, a small, humble guesthouse in 1926. Access to the guesthouse was an adventure in itself. Guests would generally arrive at Beaudesert by train and then travel by horse and cart to the Kerry Hotel, where they would stay the night. The next day they were met by one of the O'Reillys with a team of horses for the ride up to the guesthouse along a dangerous path called the Stockyard Creek Track, which the O'Reilly family had carved out themselves over the Sarabah Range from Canungra. It was a holiday only for the adventurous and it remained so even when the O’Reillys decided to expand their operation and splash out on a car to carry guests to their accommodation.
Images supplied by O’Reillys Rainforest Retreat
O’Reillys Rainforest Retreat
If you’re not reading
then you’re losing the advantage.
Stinson Walk: Photo by Ben Southall
The guesthouse was thrust into the national spotlight in 1937 when an Australian National Airways aircraft disappeared nearby and all hope was abandoned for survivors. The Stinson Model A airliner was on a fl ight from Brisbane to Sydney, carrying fi ve passengers and two pilots. Both pilots and two passengers were killed in the crash. One of the surviving passengers died beside Christmas Creek while att empting to get help to the others. Against all odds, Bernard O’Reilly found two men still alive in almost impenetrable forest and arranged their rescue. Today, a life-size model of the big blue aircraft , and a statue of Bernard O’Reilly grace the guesthouse which has become an iconic holiday destination. Australian actors Jack Thompson and Richard Roxborough starred in a fi lm about the rescue of the Stinson survivors. These days the Scenic Rim is capturing the world’s att ention for its stunning natural beauty. The famed broadcaster Sir David Att enborough has fi lmed some of his documentaries there, showcasing the area’s unique birdlife and animals. The Scenic Rim now contains six national parks and many luxury getaway-from it all experiences. Among its best-known holiday properties are O’Reillys and Binna Burra Lodge, as well as farm cabins at Hazelwood Estate in Beechmont, and the luxury glamping tents at Nightfall Camp on Christmas Creek Road at Lamington.
Damian Quinn
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