Hotels hopeful for border closures to end by Christmas

An island resort in the Far North is positive about better times ahead, despite border closures damaging business for tropical destinations.

AN island resort in the Far North is positive about better times ahead, despite border closures damaging business for tropical destinations.

The Cairns Post revealed on Monday that Green Island Resort will temporarily stop taking bookings after the current school holiday period.

At another destination off the coast of Cairns, Fitzroy Island Resort CEO Glen Macdonald said that they were coping better than expected, but were disheartened by the news.

“It is extremely sad to hear that Green Island have closed momentarily, we hope that they can continue operation again soon,” Mr Macdonald said.

Fitzroy Island. Picture: supplied.

“We are still operating on a daily basis and we are seeing continual growth. But we look forward to borders opening.”

After July when border closures returned, Mr Macdonald said they saw a decrease.

However school holidays has seen a marginal increase in trade despite not being near their usual visitor numbers.

There has been an increase in locals visiting with demand coming from regional Queensland and travellers from the southeast.

Over school holidays, Fitzroy Island has have launched a new initiative that includes land-based activities for all market segments.

“We are developing new and exciting opportunities while still trying to evolve the business,” Mr Macdonald said.

Other hotels in the Far North are counting on an improvement in trade before Christmas.

Riley Hotel curator Vesna Stupar serves cocktails to tourists Brooke Pashe and Alana Porsbro by the pool. Picture: Brendan Radke

Crystalbrook Collection CEO Geoff York said that there was a small bump, showing a marginal increase over holidays with some guests coming from Adelaide, southeast and regional Queensland.

"The additional flights from Adelaide are great. Adelaide is a small market for Cairns but the airlines have slowly increased their capacity, Mr York said.

With vaccination efforts increasing, Mr York hopes that we will see things open before Christmas.

He said that usually December, January and February are the quieter months but he thinks this year will be different due to pent-up demand.

“We do think if state borders open it will be a lot better than what it was. People have had various holidays cancelled and they are waiting for a break to go somewhere tropical,” Mr York said.

Originally published as Hotels hopeful for border closures to end by Christmas