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Tourism

This Month

Grant Wilckens presides over G’Day Group, a holiday parks company that owns $2 billion of property and is the largest provider of regional accommodation in the country.

This former investment banker now runs a $2b caravan park business

Grant Wilckens spent his early career raising capital for clients. Now he’s the CEO of the holiday parks company he founded, G’Day Group.

  • Sally Patten
The Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta.

Why are cities still spending big on convention centres?

Companies are pulling back on spending on annual conferences, and fewer people are attending them.

  • Alexander Nazaryan
Selina’s Melbourne CBD hotel at 250 Flinders Street will become a Bounce backpackers.

Backpacker operator Bounce snaps up Selina’s Australian hostels

Hostel operator Bounce will instantly double its network of properties to six with the acquisition of three former Selina hostels in Melbourne and Brisbane.

  • Larry Schlesinger

October

Younger travellers under the age of 40 now comprise a third of all cruise passengers.

Cruise passengers skew younger as Flight Centre gets aboard UK outfit

A post-pandemic surge in cruising has driven the average age of cruise ship customers much lower.

  • Ayesha de Kretser
Paula Cardona

Is it the end of revenge travel?

New research has found that almost 20 per cent of Australian travellers regretted their destination choices as booking figures continue to rebound strongly.

  • Gus McCubbing
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September

A render of the proposed nine-storey hotel at Howard Smith Wharves, recently submitted to Brisbane City Council.

The $620m makeover for Manly, Howard Smith wharves

Plans are afoot to transform the faded glory of waterside venues at Manly and in Brisbane to bustling tourist destinations. The locals have had their say, too.

  • Campbell Kwan
Plans for Arthurs Seat Eagle include a new observation tower.

Adrenaline rush, light and sound show planned for Mornington cable car

Plans by Rich Lister Peter Gunn and NAB director Simon McKeon for Arthur Seat Eagle on the Mornington Peninsula include a thrilling luge ride.

  • Larry Schlesinger
Hotel mogul Jerry Schwartz at his Sofitel Sydney Darling Harbour hotel.

‘Pay to stay’: Average Sydney hotel room rate to hit $426 by 2033

Sydney will be the standout hotel market over the next decade as occupancy rises to 86pc and few new hotels are completed to keep up with demand.

  • Larry Schlesinger
One crowded hour on the Double Six beach at Seminyak in Bali.

A hotel ban in Bali? Not a second too soon

The “Island of the Gods” needs urgent attention. It’s Indonesia’s golden goose but rampant overdevelopment has also become the island’s hallmark. 

  • Karishma Vaswani
church of the Seven Martyrs Sifnos Greece

The sublime Greek island a ferry ride away from the madding crowds

Sifnos aims to become one of the world’s top 10 hiking destinations after restoring its old footpaths to foster slow travel. It certainly delivers.

  • Susan Gough Henly
Air India CEO Campbell Wilson says Australia is the airline’s third priority in terms of growth markets.

Air India boss waits for 470 planes to throw down gauntlet to Qantas

Air India’s CEO and Singapore Airlines veteran Campbell Wilson says the airline wants to fly twice daily from Melbourne and Sydney, as Qantas eyes Indian expansion from Perth.

  • Ayesha de Kretser

The Beverly Hills wannabes and the betrayal of Ballarat

The collapse of a small-town gold mine has revealed how millions of dollars flowed to a network of Chinese businessmen. Now liquidators want the money back.

  • Peter Ker
Skiing in New Zealand.

New Zealand nearly triples fees for foreign tourists

Like many popular travel destinations, the shaky isles have struggled with the impact of visitors on the natural environment and local infrastructure.

  • Lucy Craymer

August

Tourists swarm the Trevi Fountain in Rome in July.

Italy considers hefty tax on visitors after over-tourism backlash

The government proposes a levy of up €25 a night for the most expensive hotel rooms to help cash-strapped cities.

  • Updated
  • Amy Kazmin and Giuliana Ricozzi
Mossman Gorge Cultural Centre’s guided dreamtime walk.

ILSC’s Ayers Rock Resort sale expands to the Daintree

The Indigenous Land and Sea Corporation has launched a formal sale process for the operational assets of its subsidiary Voyages Indigenous Tourism Australia.

  • Sarah Thompson, Kanika Sood and Emma Rapaport
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Happy holidays for some. Garachico town of Tenerife.

The Canary Islands are revolting against British tourists

Permanent residents are dependent on an industry overwhelming their towns and destroying the environment.

  • Stephen Smith
The 198-room Hoxton Melbourne is due open its doors in 2027

Accor hotel brand to debut in Melbourne match factory

The former Redheads match factory in Melbourne’s Cremorne will be repurposed into the country’s first Hoxton designer hotel by developer Alfasi.

  • Larry Schlesinger
A new ombudsman will be able to “direct airlines and airports to provide remedies to consumers” and externally resolve complaints.

Customers won’t be compensated for flight delays

Australian consumers fed up with airline delays and cancellations will need to read the fine print in the federal government’s white paper.

  • Ayesha de Kretser
People board the Bibby Stockholm immigration barge in England, part of a contract for Corporate Travel Management.

Corporate Travel shares dive after earnings miss

UK refugee contracts failed to materialise, sending the travel booking company’s earnings spiralling.

  • Ayesha de Kretser
John Carfi.

Ingenia reveals five-year plan for settlements growth

The developer of affordable accommodation for downsizing Baby Boomers wants to focus its own capital on the core land lease business.

  • Michael Bleby

Original URL: https://www.afr.com/topic/tourism-63a