How the other half live: Luxury islands booked out months in advance
Queensland’s luxury tourism market is booked out for months ahead as southern tourists replace their overseas travel with high-end island and retreat-style holidays.
Luxury accommodation is booked months ahead
Travel industry workers have confirmed a huge demand at the five-star level for accommodation in places like the Whitsundays. Some of the Spicer resorts were also booked out for months but destinations like Cairns, which rely on international tourism, were struggling.
Some island resorts were booked out as far as July-August while high end retreat-style accommodation was booked for up to eight months.
Brisbane residents were increasingly heading to 1770 and the Sunshine Coast while the budget-conscious were booking camping and caravanning holidays.
Queensland Tourism Industry Council chief executive Daniel Gschwind said there was a multi-speed tourism market operating and one of the few “silver linings” was the demand for luxury holidays.
He said the wealthy travellers still had money to spend and that meant there was significant demand for some properties.
However, the domestic market was still dealing with the legacy of border closures which had meant the public was thinking twice about interstate travel because holiday plans could be destroyed overnight if there was a COVID outbreak.
He said the loss of foreign workers and international students also meant there was about 1000 jobs for cooks and chefs that were unfilled and a very real concern that more workers would be lost as they looked for greater job security in other sectors.
“Once they lose them they’re hard to bring back,” Gschwind said.
He said the Federal Treasurer had not given any hint of what sort of support would be coming from the Government later this week but did indicate that the aviation sector would get some help.
Spicers said that for the next three months most of its regional properties were more than 60 per cent booked already and it expected that to grow . The company’s urban retreats were starting to welcome more people but not quite to that level yet.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said people had three days to register for the State Government’s $200 tourism vouchers to support the Cairns region.
“It’s a great program so let’s see if there’s an appetite out there,” Palaszczuk said today, declining to comment on the chances of the program being extended or expanded.
